Star Fox: Echoes
by StarFoxEclipse
Summary: This sequel to Star Fox: Eclipse takes place prior to Star Fox Adventures, where Krystal faces the terrible events that lead her to eventually become a member of the Star Fox team. Beyond the Lylat System, a sinister plot unfolds. On the peaceful planet Cerinia a foreign evil brings death and destruction in its wake. Cerinia's fate is sealed; what else will be lost before the end?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

 **Year 8, ALW**

"Thanks again, for saving me back there… If it wasn't for you, I might have been trapped inside that crystal prison forever," a blue-furred vixen sighed with relief. She glanced around at the numerous computer monitors and screens glowing inside the control room of the ship she was aboard, taking in all that was around her. She was still amazed at how quickly everything happened on Dinosaur Planet; one moment she was trapped at the top of a spire, and the next thing she knew she was aboard an unfamiliar ship, talking to the stranger who saved her life.

The red fox sitting beside her ruffled his fur with his hand awkwardly, leaning back in his chair while she leaned against the wall next to him. "Oh, um… it was nothing, really," the male fox replied. "I just did what anyone would have done. Somehow, the fate of Sauria was linked to your survival, and by saving the planet, I was able to save you as well."

The she-fox smiled at her rescuer. Only moments ago, she was trapped at the top of the Krazoa Palace, held prisoner by the spirit of Andross. The evil ape had used her powers to channel the energy of the Krazoa Spirits and revive himself, only to be defeated at the hands of her rescuer, the pilot Fox McCloud of the mercenary team known as Star Fox.

"Thank you, Fox," the vixen replied. She cast another glance around the control room of the Great Fox, the aircraft carrier she had flown aboard to meet with him. The other pilots she just met had left the room, leaving her alone with Fox as they talked together in the silence. She had only just arrived, and still had not been given the chance to formally talk to the others yet. They must have gone elsewhere to celebrate their victory and the survival of planet Sauria.

"By the way, Krystal," Fox interrupted her thoughts, "what brought you to Dinosaur Planet in the first place? How did you end up trapped at the top of that spire?"

Krystal hesitated, unsure of how to explain it all. The last thing she remembered before she was trapped was the presence of Andross himself. Though he was just a spirit at the time, Krystal could see him and read his thoughts telepathically. She shuddered at the thought, again thankful that Andross was destroyed by Fox in the end.

"You finished what I was there to start," the she-fox answered, returning her gaze to look into Fox's eyes. "I met your enemy inside the Krazoa Palace. He followed me, setting a trap to lure me in as I released the first Krazoa Spirit. Somehow he knew I was coming. It's as if-"

"He planned for you to be there," Fox finished her sentence. It was strange for the telepath to have someone else finish her thoughts for a change. "Andross knew that you could channel the power of the Krazoa and use that power to revive himself," the fox continued in a more serious tone.

Krystal turned away and began pacing across the control room, toward a window that revealed the emptiness of space around them. In the distance, she could see Dinosaur Planet fading as the Great Fox hovered away from it. The vixen could distinguish some of its features, including the snowy mountains of the Snowhorn Waste and the barren wasteland of Dragon Rock. She had traveled across the planet, desperately searching for answers to the many questions in her mind. It was hard to believe that after all this time, the answers finally became clear.

Suddenly, Krystal sensed Fox's distressed thoughts flowing toward her in waves. "Krystal, are you alright?" He asked, leaning forward in his chair with concern.

The she-fox hesitated again before replying. "I always thought that I hadn't seen the last of Andross, but I never expected him to return on planet Sauria. I first came to the planet searching for answers, but didn't expect to find them so soon…" She mumbled the words, as if speaking only to herself. However, Fox heard every one and almost jumped up from his chair in astonishment.

"Wait, you knew Andross?" He gasped. "How? He's been dead for several years now… And what do you mean by 'answers?' Answers to what?"

Krystal continued staring out the window as Sauria began to vanish from sight, leaving the planet behind in the vacuum of space. "… I know him," the vixen murmured. "We met a couple of years ago. Then, he was just a wandering spirit searching the nearby star systems and planets for alternative means of resurrection. After his battle with you, I finally understand his desperate need for vengeance… He was the one responsible-" Krystal stuttered, incapable of forcing the next words out.

"He was the one responsible for the destruction of…" The vixen fumbled the words around again, still choking on her thought.

Fox's thoughts were consumed with worry and fear at what she would say next. "The destruction of what, Krystal?"

The vixen turned to face him, this time with a tear running down her right cheek. "Everything I've ever known or loved… My home planet, Cerinia."


	2. Chapter 1

11

 **Chapter 1**

 **The Daughter's Gift**

 **Year 6, ALW (Two Years Prior)**

"Krystal… Krystal!" The sound echoed into Krystal's ears as she slowly blinked. The vixen shook her head back and forth, clearing it of the night's dream and awakening to reality. She ignored the voice sounding in her room and sat up in her bed, shifting her legs so that they could hang over the edge and rested her elbows on her knees. Krystal continued to drown out the sound calling out her name while she meditated on the dream she had the previous night.

"Krystal! You know what today is, right?" The voice belonged to her friend Sera. The red-furred vixen ran excitedly toward Krystal and plopped down beside her on her bed. She seemed to take no insult to the fact that Krystal was completely focused on the dream she had instead of her.

"Yes, I know what today is," Krystal murmured while raising her head to glance around at her surroundings. Her room was the same as it had always been; the dark polished marble that made up the floor brought her chills to the touch. The walls surrounding her were nearly bare, leaving only cold hard stone visible except for a single opening left for a window and a wooden door across from her bed. Yet something felt strange; as if an unseen presence resided within the very stone around her.

Sera nudged her friend, prompting her to say more. "Well…?" The crimson she-fox beckoned, tossed her long, flowing hair behind her.

Krystal hesitated, studying her friend up and down before giving an answer. Sera wore similar attire that she wore; a broad, metal chest plate stretched across her torso, cutting off short just above her stomach. Both vixens wore armor plated shorts, with shoulder and shin guards for additional defense. Sera's bushy red tail was banded once half-way for decoration, whereas Krystal wore two bands on hers.

"Alright," the blue-furred vixen sighed. "Today is the day that I start my training," Krystal finally replied. Her indifferent response betrayed her excitement, but she just couldn't force her lingering dream to fade from her mind.

With another nudge, Sera leaped from Krystal's bedside and turned to face her friend with an upset look on her face. " _And_ , it's the day that _I_ start my duties with the Royal Guard!" She boasted. Realizing Krystal's dismay, her upset look turned into a worried stare. "What's wrong, sis? Are you nervous about today? What can go wrong, it's only training with your father after all…"

"It's not the training," Krystal retorted. "I can't seem to get my dreams out of my head, that's all…" The nightmare that haunted her dreams the previous night was not the first of its kind. The blue-furred vixen had been dreaming the same dream every night for as long as she could remember. What made it worse was that the dream became more terrible and frightening with each passing night. She could hear the sounds of her friends and family suffering; dying. Her whole planet of Cerinia was in turmoil; but last night's dream included something new. All Krystal could see before she awakened were two enormous red eyes, glowing in the darkness of the void surrounding her. The cruel, malicious gaze haunted her even in the living world. She couldn't seem to be free from the evil glare that haunted her dreams.

"Oh, the nightmares," Sera whispered. "Try not to worry about them now, it's almost time for your training. That's why I woke you." The concerned look on the crimson fox's face suddenly brightened. "Let's go, sis, I want to see some of your training before I go and start mine!"

A hand reached out to Krystal from her bedside. Without hesitation she took hold and was pulled up off her bed, where she stretched her tired limbs and yawned the rest of her sleepiness away. With a swift glance around her room, Krystal located her leather sandals and strapped them to her feet. Before following Sera, who stood waiting beside the door, Krystal took a minute to observe herself in her mirror.

The large, round object hung from the wall just beside her bed, nearly standing up to the vixen's entire height. Krystal gazed into its reflection, adjusting her armor so that it was on tightly and securely. She ruffled her short, blue hair out and let it fall to her shoulders, fastening a jeweled headband twice at her hairline.

A loud sigh came from beneath the doorway, urging Krystal to hurry. "Come on, let's get going before we miss your training altogether!"

"Just a minute, Sera," Krystal called. The last glance the vixen took was at the white bands tattooed around each of her arms. The series of rectangular shapes signified Krystal's home planet, Cerinia. She bore a similar, but smaller mark on her back, just above her waistline, and a spiraled symbol on her right thigh. This special figure, completely concealed by her shorts, represented the royal bloodline of Cerinia, the blood that Krystal was born into. She was the daughter of the king and queen, making her the next rightful heir to their throne.

Shutting the door behind her, Krystal followed Sera out of her room and into the remainder of the palace which she called home. The dark purple stone and marble that lined the halls were identical to that inside Krystal's room. The pair passed from one extending corridor to the next, maneuvering throughout the great palace halls as if they knew them inside and out.

"So, sis," Sera called back to Krystal as she followed, "I don't suppose you know where your training is supposed to begin, do you?" The red vixen tried to suppress a laugh. "I was so excited about today that I forgot to even ask where your father was supposed to meet you!"

"Why am I not surprised?" Krystal rolled her eyes as her friend stopped walking and turned to face her. Sera was by far her closest and dearest friend; they had known each other and been close since their birth, which happened to occur on the same day. Krystal's father, the King, and Sera's father, the captain of the Royal Guard, were childhood friends as well. It was no surprise that their daughters were so close. Their shared day of birth was the reason that Sera often referred to Krystal as 'sis,' instead of calling her by name. They were practically like sisters.

"Father told me yesterday to meet him in the Great Hall," the blue-furred vixen smiled. She tried her best to put her nightmare from the previous night behind her, reflecting on how lucky she was to have a friend like Sera by her side. They had been on so many adventures, and seemed to always get in trouble together. Krystal laughed to herself at the thought.

Suddenly, pain began to throb in the blue vixen's head. Krystal collapsed against the stone wall of the corridor, just outside the entrance to the Great Hall where her father would be waiting for her.

"Krystal?" Sera spun around in shock, "what's wrong? Are your powers acting up again?"

Krystal's head felt like it was spinning out of control. She could not focus with the multitude of mental images flowing into her mind. She fell to her knees and willed that the voices in her head would cease. "It's the telepathy again," she muttered through gritted teeth. "The voices enter my head on their own and I can't control them yet!"

"Now I see why your father called you to begin training now," Sera sighed as she helplessly watched. "I can't begin to understand what all of that power is like."

Krystal said nothing but held her ground as she sorted through the sea of chaos inside her mind. Since she neared her sixteenth birthday, she had been experiencing fits of uncontrollable mental activity since the true awakening of her telepathic powers. Only those of the royal Cerinian bloodline were capable of inheriting this powerful trait, the ability to read minds telepathically. The issue with Krystal's coming of age was that she was still learning and unable to fully control her gift. This was the purpose of her father's training, now that she had turned sixteen years old.

Finally, the pain began to subside and the fog around Krystal's mind began to clear. She rose to her feet and shook her head back and forth to clear it. "I think I'm fine now," she told her friend. "Let's get going so I can finally learn how to control this."

Sera nodded, rounding the corner and leading the way toward the Great Hall.

The Great Hall was the center of activity within the large palace that was Krystal's home. An elegant red carpet trailed through the center of the room, leading up to the king's throne atop a large stairway. A series of blazing torches lined the upper walls, shining additional light apart from the natural light beaming in through the open windows along the back wall. Krystal noticed that her mother and father were seated on their thrones, while several Cerinian guards flanked them on each side.

Krystal's father, the King of Cerinia, wore a majestic purple robe atop his battle armor that almost completely concealed his blue fur. All that remained visible was his head, where a golden crown rested, gleamed in the morning sunlight. Sitting beside him was Krystal's mother, the queen, wearing a beautiful silk dress to match her husband's robes. Her blue figure was lightly scaled with armor plating, beaded with glimmering jewels throughout.

"Wow, I didn't know that this was such a big deal," Sera whispered as she followed Krystal across the Great Hall. "Look," she gestured with a nod of her head, "my father and the rest of the Royal Guard are here as well. Do you think they are staying to watch some of your training?"

Krystal shrugged slowly as they approached the foot of her father's throne, without giving a formal answer. She caught a glimpse of Sera waving to her father, the Captain of the guard, who gave an acknowledging nod in return. Suddenly Krystal began to feel nervous; she had trained with her father for years prior to her coming of age, but she was anxious as to what new kind of training lay ahead. Would it be challenging? Would she be able to learn all that her father had to teach her? What if she failed in front of her parents and all the Royal Guard?

"Do not fear, my daughter," the king spoke, breaking the silence. "What is about to come will help you to embrace your birthright. As a descendant of the royal Cerinian bloodline, you possess the unique gift of telepathy. I will help you to understand this power, and to learn how to control it. Your new training will cover many areas; how to focus your mind, how to read others, and the many ways to put your power to use. Firstly, we will begin with the very basics of telepathy; you must learn how to prepare your mental state before you can even begin to access your power. Are you ready to begin?"

Krystal was not surprised that her father read her mind, for she had inherited this trait directly from him. "Yes Father, I am ready to begin," she nodded, her worry and fears turning into anticipation and excitement for what was to come. Finally, she would begin in an ancient Cerinian tradition that passed on from generation to generation through the royal bloodline.

The king rose from his throne and proceeded down the steps toward Krystal while Sera was beckoned by her father to join him by the side of the throne. "You are familiar with ancient Cerinian history, Krystal. I have taught you everything I know. The Cerinians of old possessed much greater mental prowess than we are capable of today; but slowly, this power has faded among the royal bloodline. The Ancients could do far more than just telepathy; there were some who were rumored to have been able to manipulate objects with only their minds."

Krystal nodded as her father reached the final step and stood face to face with her. She was still rather young, only sixteen years of age, but had nearly reached the full height of the king. She held his gaze evenly, staring into his ice-blue eyes with her own. "I've felt my powers growing in recent weeks," Krystal reminded him as she had several times before. "But I can't seem to filter through the many mental images I see at a time. My head starts spinning and aches uncontrollably at times."

"This is a natural feeling," the king smiled, relaxing from his formal tone and addressing Krystal as his beloved daughter. "This kind of power is overwhelming when it first sets in. I remember it from when I was your age. Come," he beckoned as he stepped past Krystal and walked toward the center of the hall. "Before you can learn to sense the thoughts and feelings of others, you must learn to control your own."

The young vixen followed, pausing when her father turned again to face her. "What do mean by 'controlling my own?' I already know how to manage my own thoughts and feelings." She was confused; surely her training could not be as simple as this?

"That you do, Krystal, but not in the context of telepathy. Focus your mind. Clear it, empty it of all other thoughts and feelings. Concentrate only on the plane of mental space, and for now, ignore all of the physical."

 _Focus your mind,_ Krystal repeated her father's directions. Closing her eyes, she slowly let the rest of the world slip away. _Let go_ , a voice seemed to echo in her brain. Krystal kept her eyes shut and continued to meditate. For a moment, she thought back to her nightmares, almost envisioning the red eyes from her dream reappearing before her. But she quickly forced the thought back, ignoring all her other feelings and focusing only on her instruction.

The familiar voice of Krystal's father filled her ears and almost caused her to lose her focus. "Well done. Now try to extend your mental gaze by focusing on me. When you sense my mental activity, focus on it; connect it to your own."

Out of the darkness of the mind, Krystal sensed a sudden spark. She felt her father's brainwaves and channeled all her energy to concentrate on them. "I think I'm there," she spoke in confirmation. "I see your thoughts. I can read them like I can my own." Images began flooding into the she-fox's mind. Words, thoughts, feelings, all coming from the connection she had just obtained with her father.

 _The next step,_ she sensed her father speak to her telepathically, _is to widen your gaze. Our thoughts are not the only ones filling this physical space. The mental world extends beyond the immediate; this room, this palace, this village, this world. It will take some time before you can cast your mind out to your environment, but for now let's extend to those nearby. Can you feel the thoughts of the guards? What about your mother, or Sera? Do you sense them?_

Krystal strained to maintain her focus while widening the range of her mental capacity. At first, the many thoughts and emotions flooded her in waves. She felt as if she was starting to drown in the chaos of mental activity around her.

 _Sharpen your mind, Krystal,_ she heard her father's thoughts again among the noise. _Everyone has a unique mental trace, which can be used to distinguish one's thoughts from another's. Embrace the mental voices and use your will to control them._

One by one, the young she-fox linked to a specific mental signal and allocated it to a different portion of her mind. _I can see,_ she echoed her thoughts into the mind of her father. _The thoughts… they are starting to become clearer. Before, I couldn't handle this much information. But now… it's starting to become clear…_

Suddenly something inside Krystal's mind seemed to snap, and all the mental images filling her mind vanished. She opened her eyes again to find herself standing before her father once more, among the others in the Great Hall. "What happened?" she asked in frustration. "Where did it all go? I was just starting to get the hang of it, and everything just vanished."

The king opened his eyes and looked into hers sympathetically. "This is only your first day of training," he reminded her. "One can only handle so much at a time before reaching your limit." Before Krystal could ask, her father continued, "Your limit will increase as you gain more experience and practice using your powers. Someday you won't even realize that it's there at all; your extrasensory perception will just be another natural part of you."

"Now," The king continued, "it is time to put your telepathic powers to the test." He nodded toward one of his guards, who presented him with a weapon. It was a staff, elegantly decorated from tip to tip along its silver frame with light, swirling patterns. The guard handed the staff to the king, who handed it to his daughter.

"One of the primary uses of telepathy is the ability to utilize it in combat," the king prompted as he drew his own staff from a black sheath on his thigh. The weapon was nearly identical to the one he had given Krystal, except that it was only half the length with a larger, pointed tip. Krystal almost leaped in shock as the smaller staff extended to twice its length with a snap.

 _His staff is the weapon of the kings_ , Krystal reflected to herself. _It wields far greater magical powers than the simple staff he gave me_ , she thought as she looked down at the weapon in her hands. _I've trained with my father in combat before, but not using telepathy… or while he was using his staff…_

Krystal's father turned again to address his guards. "Leave us, and begin with Sera's training," he ordered. "Now I wish to train with my daughter, alone."

"Yes sir," the head of the guard, Sera's father, nodded. "Come, our training will begin outside in the courtyard." One by one, the guards and Sera filed out of the Great Hall. Sera stopped to give her friend an encouraging smile, and Krystal returned it with her own.

Finally, Krystal's mother spoke up. "I shall take my leave as well," she informed her husband as she rose from her throne. Turning to address Krystal, she added, "good luck with your training, my daughter. Listen to your father and learn what he has to teach you. I'll see you later," she said with a comforting smile as she exited the Great Hall through an opening that extended from the side of the room.

Suddenly, mental images began flooding into the young blue vixen's mind. _I wonder what is going on in the southern forest. The Captain told us that we would be investigating the area while the kids train today._ _Hopefully it's nothing to worry about…_

"Krystal, your training is with _me_ ," the words of her father brought her mind back to reality. She must have been sensing the thoughts of the guards; from the sound of it, something was happening in the forest area surrounding the palace. Krystal felt anxious to go and see for herself, but her training prevented her from investigating the minds of the guards any further.

"But Father, the guards-"

"Focus your mind on me, and me alone. I want to test your skills using telepathy in combat," the king interrupted her as if to change the subject. His tone was stern and his gaze was intense. "You will need all of your mental capacity if you ever want to learn how to master telepathy in combat." Slowly, the fox began to pace, walking circles around his daughter. "Telepathy is your sixth sense; it is like another extent of your mind, another extent of your body. If you scan the mind of your enemy closely, you will be able to read and detect what moves they will make next. Channel your thoughts onto mine. You should sense every movement I am going to make, down to where I am going to place my foot next."

Krystal took hurried glances back and forth, following her father with her eyes. She drew her weapon, readying herself for his first strike. She calmed her mind, allowing everything else to fade away except for his mental trace. _He's right_ , she remarked to herself, _it's almost like I can see his future movements in my mind… where he is going to move, how he is going to position, where he is going to strike!_

Within only a second, Krystal felt a rush of wind as her father lunged his staff toward her chest, giving not a single warning except for what she sensed in his mind. Retaliating, the vixen raised her staff and parried his out of the way, throwing him sideways with his intense momentum.

The king was fast, extremely agile on his larger frame. Using his speed, he turned on one foot and swung his staff sideways, aiming another attack for Krystal's head.

 _I can see it coming_ , Krystal thought as she visualized her father's thought to attack before he made the move. She ducked low to the ground as if she anticipated the attack, allowing the king's magical staff to swing above her. _Alright, where is the next attack coming from?_ Krystal caught a glance of her opponent, attacking again from the side. Suddenly the world seemed to slow to a stop as her telepathic powers activated, revealing the king's thoughts to her.

 _He is going to swing again, but this time aiming along my waist. If I can repel the attack correctly, I can use this as a chance to strike back without giving him the time to react._ The she-fox analyzed her father's movements, planning to block the next swing with her staff and throw a kick toward his chest. The world began to turn back in motion, and the actions Krystal envisioned began to play out.

Just as she predicted, her father's staff swung for her waist. She countered by thrusting her own staff vertically into the ground and repelling the attack. Using the weapon for stability, Krystal leaped sideways and threw a kick back. She grinned, expecting her counterattack to land successfully and surprise her father, but instead she felt a hand grab her by the ankle and throw her across the hall.

 _What? How was he able to see my kick coming? It's as if he knew…_ The vixen put it all together when she landed on the hard marble floor, rolling several times before slowing to a stop. Her staff was thrown from her grasp, sending loud clanging sounds echoing through the space.

"That's exactly right," the king nodded and relaxed his fighting stance. "I have the power of telepathy also; not only can _you_ sense _my_ moves… but _I_ can sense _yours_."

Krystal shook herself to her feet. "Well since you're going to put it that way," she murmured, "I'm going to get serious now!"

The king tensed his muscles beneath his armored plating. "When training with me, you should _always_ be serious!" Again, without warning, he hurled himself at his daughter, preparing another lunge.

 _He's taking it easy on me,_ Krystal reflected as she darted for her staff. _He's giving me time to get my weapon back. The next attack will surely come from above,_ she thought, judging from how her father had extended his arms above his head. Just when her staff was in reach, a foot caught her in the stomach by surprise and tossed her backward, out of reach. Before she could fall to the floor, the vixen tossed her weight backward, touching the ground with her hands and flipping herself backward to land on her feet again.

 _How did he catch me by surprise again?_ Krystal gritted her teeth and glared at her father. His movements were obvious; she didn't even attempt to rely on telepathy since she knew she was going to avoid the attack anyway. But somehow, she was wrong. Her father had changed his attack patterns mid lunge.

"The first of many lessons," the king grinned, "is this: Lies of the body, and truths of the mind."

"Lies of the body, truths of the mind?" Krystal echoed her father's words.

"Yes, my daughter. You realize where you made the mistake, right? You judged my attack based on my body, but you should have been focusing on my mind. I may be able to deceive you with my actions, but my mind can't lie to you. Within every action is a forethought. My decision to change attacks was deliberate, a conscious decision I made inside my mind. Does this make sense, Krystal?"

The vixen nodded her head in understanding. "Yes, I just don't feel like I have enough control on my powers to rely on them for everything. I can't always keep a steady grip, sometimes I might need to rely on what I can see instead of what I can feel."

The king nodded in return. "This is only your first day of training. I'm sure that in time you will progress from 'relying' on your gift to 'embracing' it. Once you gain full control and truly master telepathy, it will come as instinct, like second nature. Your ability to read minds will become as natural as your ability to see."

"Alright," Krystal emptied her mind again and began to focus on her foe. "I'm ready to give it another go," she offered as she tensed her muscles for another fight.

"Whenever you're ready," her father replied, waiting for her to make the first move.

Krystal took a deep breath and let it out slowly, eyeing her staff that was positioned just several feet from her. _I need to get my staff back, that's the only way that I'll have a chance,_ she observed, noting that she was just as far from her staff as her father was. _He will get there about the same time as me, possibly even before I do. I will have to manipulate the fight so that I can get my staff before getting too involved…_

The blue-furred vixen sized up her opponent one last time before taking off, racing toward her grounded weapon at a full sprint.

The king immediately followed, matching his daughter's speed as they each darted toward the center of the Great Hall, fighting to reach the staff first.

Just when they were each within several feet of each other, Krystal leaped forward and kicked off the ground with both legs, aiming a punch for her father's chest. Instantly she trained her mind onto her father in an attempt to determine how he was going to react. _A defensive approach? He plans on backing up so that I overshoot the distance. Exactly as I'd hoped._

The king darted backward, but instead of missing her punch, Krystal opened her palm and touched the cold marble floor, using it to roll forward. The vixen threw her leg out in front of her, slamming it downward as she completed the maneuver.

"Not so fast!" Krystal's father exclaimed as he drew his staff to parry.

Krystal's leg was blocked, but nothing stood in the way of her reclaiming her staff, which lay on the floor beside her. Achieving her main goal, she lifted her leg and rolled backward, using her hands to propel her back to an upright standing position. Before her father could get to his feet, she lunged forward and thrust her staff downward towards him.

The king rolled sideways and then swung his leg sideways attempting to knock Krystal off her feet. She read this attack telepathically, jumping over top of her father and swinging her staff down at him again as she passed overhead. The king used this opportunity to block the attack and leap to his feet.

Both foxes, father and daughter, raced toward each other. Krystal read her father's movements, matching blow for blow while throwing some of her own attacks in between. _Block left, swing right, dodge, counterattack…_ The vixen could barely keep up with her own mind, hardly able to react to what her mind told her to do. _This is intense!_ The she-fox reflected, _but I am starting to get better at this. It's working,_ she realized as she became more comfortable with trusting her telepathic senses to combat with her father.

Suddenly everything shut down. Krystal's sixth sense had reached its current limit of control, and she lost sight of her father's mental activity. The king stopped in his tracks, calling off his own attack just in time as he sensed it. His staff extended just beside Krystal's eyes, only inches from striking her.

"It looks like you've about had it," he smiled as he lowered his weapon. "We've had a pretty successful first day, I'd say."

Krystal sighed as she lowered her staff as well. She lowered her head and stared at the ground, upset that she still couldn't manage to keep her telepathy in control for an extended period. "I felt so comfortable with it," she said optimistically, "but just when I think I have it, everything goes dark and I lose control."

A sudden pat on the shoulder caused Krystal to look up. Her father had stretched out his arm and rested his hand on her shoulder, gazing down at her with deep love for her filling his eyes. "You are doing so well, my daughter. I can see you becoming a wonderful successor when you're older," he encouraged.

The young vixen placed her hand on her shoulder over his. "Thanks, Dad," she smiled. She almost always called him 'Father,' apart from sentimental times such as this, when she would refer to him as 'Dad' instead. "I'll try to do my best and keep practicing today, I promise I won't let you down!"

"That's the spirit," the king nodded his approval. "Our training is done for today," he concluded as he sheathed his staff, returning it to its halved length before returning it to its holster on his leg. "I believe that your friend Sera should be done with training soon, why don't you go out with her and have some fun?"

"Alright, thanks!" Krystal didn't have to be told twice to go and see Sera. She dipped her head to her father respectfully and spun around, racing for the end of the Great Hall and toward the entrance of the palace. She meant what she said about training and making her father proud; she was going to work every day with her telepathic powers to become the strongest Cerinian warrior she could possibly be!


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **A Threat Emerges**

Bright Cerinian sunlight burst into Krystal's vision as she passed through the gateway leading from her palace home to the outside world. She noticed thedaywasstillyoungbythepositionofthesunstillrisinginthesky **.** A light breeze ruffled Krystal's blue fur as she gazed at the familiar view around her.

The palace in which she lived was located in the heart of the village surrounding it. The magnificent, ancient structure sat atop a large hill, where a stone stairway led from the palace gates to the courtyard below. Polished marble similar to that of Krystal's home made up the inspiring architecture of the courtyard, which circulated the entire palace grounds. Beyond the borders of the palace, the village surrounding it began. The smooth, green landscape was dotted with dozens of little stone houses, with thin dirt roads twisting and turning in between them.

Krystal breathed in the air and took in the sights of her village as she stepped down from the palace gates and onto the walkway before her, descending toward the courtyard below. She passed a large round water fountain, which sprayed waterupwardintosmallerpools surrounding it before reaching the end of the courtyard and descending down another series of steps towards the village itself. Two members of the Cerinian Royal Guard stood watch on each side as the palace grounds transitioned into the rest of the village, each decorated in heavy armor and wielding a gleaming broadsword.

 _I wonder where I am going to find Sera, if she has even finished her training yet_ , Krystal paused as she realized that she did not know where exactly she was going. She turned toward the guards on her left and asked, "excuse me, but do you know if Sera has returned? She went out training with her father, but I don't know where they went."

The closest watchman, a red-furred fox, turned his head and nodded in acknowledgment to the daughter of the king. "The patrol that left this morning still has yet to return, my lady," he answered regretfully, "but they should be back at any time now."

 _Well that's not very helpful_ , Krystal kept the thought to herself as she ran her fingers through her hair and cast a glance left and right. Just when she was about to turn back and head for home, she spotted a group of soldiers heading toward her along the main path from the village. She recognized the same warriors who had witnessed the beginning of her training, except Sera and her father were both missing. It appeared as if the rest of the Royal Guard had returned without them.

"Well, looks like you're just in time," the fox sentinel commented as the patrol had nearly reached the village outskirts. "I don't see Sera with them, but perhaps you could try asking them?" He suggested.

Krystal nodded her thanks and began towards the returning guards. She almost opened her mouth to ask the question as she neared the first soldier when another idea entered her mind. _Maybe this is good opportunity to practice controlling my telepathy again_ , she decided, allowing the patrol to pass by as she read their thoughts, searching for some useful information regarding Sera's training.

The young she-fox focused her mind and concentrated on the thought patterns of the Royal Guard, filtering through each of their individual thoughts. At first she could only sense basic information; how the guards felt, where they were going. But after concentrating harder and searching deeper, Krystal finally picked up on a lead. _So Sera and her father are still training by themselves in private?_ The vixen continued on the thought, reading more into the mind of the guard who provided it. _They shouldn't be out too much longer by the sound of it. Sera should be going to the marketplace when she and her father are done, so I might as well go there myself and wait for her._

As Krystal followed the walkway before her, she caught one last mental signal before abandoning the minds of the Royal Guard behind her. _Why didn't she ask about Sera?_ With a sudden realization, she noticed that the thought she was reading was that of the sentinel she originally asked about the whereabouts of her friend. She must have looked quite strange after not asking the returning guards about Sera when she had just been told that they might know where she was.

Krystal laughed to herself and grinned. _I wonder if he knows that I read their minds instead?_ Telepathy was not only an exceptionally powerful ability, but an incredibly useful one as well!

Finally, Krystal set foot into the village itself, where she stopped to observe its activity as Cerinian villagers went about their business. Among the array of stone buildings that lined the roadways, Cerinians of all kinds walked the streets, taking their time to observe the many shops and stores throughout the heart of the village. Cerinia was home to a multitude of species; foxes, dogs, cats, lizards, frogs, among many others. The excitement and activity nearly caused Krystal's head to start spinning with all the mental energy summoned by her telepathic powers.

 _I have some time before Sera arrives_ , the vixen thought, _so I might as well visit my favorite shop._ Taking a wide pathway on her left, Krystal headed towards the Cerinian general store, located deeper inside the village's activity. She cast occasional glances at the familiar shops she passed them, almost ignoring the physical world around her as she again attempted to train her sixth sense.

Mental images flooded into her mind like a flowing river as she focused her mind, trying to sort through all the chaos and determine one mental image from another. She came in tune with some of the shopkeepers' thoughts, reacting physically to what she heard mentally. One vendor felt upset because one of his potential customers insulted his prices; another revealed that she was pleased to make another sale. Just when she thought she was picking up on some gossip about the investigation in the southern forest, something interrupted her thoughts.

"Well hello Krystal, daughter of the king," a voice snapped the she-fox from her thoughts and brought her mind back to the world around her.

With a short glance at the area around her, Krystal realized that she had wandered all the way to the general store without noticing it. She stood before a large stone structure, a building that appeared to be half house and half store. Rock and stone were positioned to create an opening for the general store in the front of the building, and the back was sealed off for the shopkeeper's house. Krystal did nothing but blink at the store owner in bewilderment, upset that she could not explore the thought that occupied her mind further.

"You don't seem to be quite with it today," the shopkeeper continued. "What brings you out and about to Desmond's general store today? Anything in particular caught your eye?" Desmond was a lizard, a strangely kind lizard, who had been a friend of Krystal and Sera's since they were kids. He had grown up with their parents, so it was no surprise that he was somewhat of an uncle figure to them.

The green-scaled shopkeeper turned his bright yellow eyes toward his wares, inviting Krystal to browse through them. He lowered the brown hood from his head and flexed the muscles beneath his armored tunic. "Well, do you see anything that interests you?"

Krystal squinted past Desmond from where she stood behind his counter, glancing over several items indifferently before speaking up. "I'm not really here for materials… I'm here for information," the girl admitted. "It has something to do with what the guards are investigating in the southern forest, have you heard anything?" she whispered in a lower tone, leaning slightly over the counter in interest.

Desmond scratched his chin with his long, scaly claws before answering. "I don't believe I've heard anything," he shrugged, glancing away from Krystal as he spoke. "It's probably nothing anyway, I'm sure the guards can handle it."

Something seemed odd about the way Desmond reacted, Krystal thought. She paused for a moment and focused her mind on his, scanning it for more information. "You're not being quite honest with me," she frowned as she drummed her nails on the counter in front of her. "You should know that I have awakened my telepathic powers today," she continued, pressing for more information. The vixen had already sensed what she needed, but wanted her friend to tell her the truth himself.

"Oh, alright you got me," Desmond sighed as he stared down at his customer. "I should've known sooner or later you would be just like your father," the words came almost resentfully from the reptile's mouth. "I don't know much, but I have overheard the guards throughout the day as they have passed by. It sounds like something dangerous is going on in the woods. I haven't heard any of the details, but it seems like it could be a threat the village."

This time he was telling the truth. Krystal could sense Desmond's relief that he was no longer hiding anything from her, mixed with feelings of worry and doubt about the information he revealed.

"You don't plan on going there, do you? Please, leave this for the guards, they will take care of it," Desmond pleaded. "The last thing I want is for you to get hurt. You've only just awakened your powers; this is no time to go looking for trouble!"

Krystal opened her mouth to reply when she sensed another presence approaching. She spun around and almost collided with Sera, who was standing right behind her.

"Hey Krystal, I heard you were looking for me?" The crimson she-fox grinned her usual closed-eyed smile. "How did your training go?"

Krystal smiled back at her best friend, taking her by the hand and leading her away from Desmond and his shop before saying a word to her. "Goodbye Desmond, see you next time!" she called as she led the way toward another shop and slipped behind it, dragging Sera along with her.

"Wait a minute, what's all this about?" Sera questioned. "Did something happen at your training? What is so secretive that we came back here just to talk?"

"Oh, sorry about that, I guess I got a bit carried away," Krystal sighed, apologizing for her lack of explanation. "My training went well. It seems like a lot to learn, but I'm getting the hang of it," she answered, continuing on to the real subject of interest. "When you left with the guards earlier, I sensed something. I'm not sure exactly what's going on, but something isn't right in the southern forest."

Sera's red eyes lit up. "So you know, too? The guards mentioned it during my training, but wouldn't tell me. From what I heard, it must be important." The red vixen's tail swished back and forth in anticipation. "What else do you know?"

"Not a lot," Krystal admitted, "but I think we should go check it out. Desmond said it was dangerous, whatever it was, so maybe it's a threat to the village? We have to figure out more!"

"Why am I not surprised?" Sera rolled her eyes playfully. "Somehow I always let you drag me into these things, and after all these years I'm still letting you get me into trouble."

Krystal gave a serious look in return. She saw into her friend's mind and knew that she was just as interested as she was. As much as she hated to admit it, Sera constantly followed along because she actually really wanted to. "Come on, we _both_ know that you want to find out what's going on," the blue furred vixen narrowed her eyes. "I see it in your mind, you want to know just as much as I do."

Sera gave a long winded sigh as she smoothed out her hair. She turned her gaze back to Krystal with a gleam in her eyes. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

Krystal peered around the corner, making sure that none of the guards were nearby. The last thing they needed was to be followed, or be stopped and asked where they were going. "Come on," the blue vixen waved her hand signaling to her friend, "let's merge in with the crowd so we can get out of the village without being noticed." She let Sera lead the way as they slipped in between the ongoing villagers, walking casually to avoid any unwanted attention.

As the two left the marketplace and headed toward the village border, Krystal realized that they would inevitably run into trouble with the guards whether they avoided it or not; in the distance, she could see the enormous stone wall surrounding the village, where she and Sera would have to pass underneath an arch patrolled by two sentinels.

"Sera, what are we going to do about the entry guards?" Krystal whispered as they neared the outskirts of the village. "How are we going to get by without making it obvious?"

The red-furred fox turned her head back and grinned. "Make _what_ obvious?Howcanwebedoinganythingsuspiciousifwedon'tknowanything?"

Before she had the chance to explain, the two she-foxes approached the archway in the stone barrier surrounding the village. One Cerinian guard stood watch at each end, wearing metal Cerinian military armor and wielding a staff. Their steel helmets nearly covered their faces, making their expressions unreadable as they stood motionless, diligentlymonitoringwhocameinandoutofthevillage **.**

"Where do you two think you're going?" Interrogated one of the guards. "The forest is under investigation and is currently off limits to anyone except the Cerinian military. Even for the king's daughter," the fox barked, referencing Krystal, "we can't make any exceptions."

Sera immediately chimed in. "What about the forest? We didn't even know there was anything going on over there," she gave Krystal a subtle glare signaling for her to play along. "We won't get in the way; you don't have to worry about us!" She said, trying to act as innocent and convincing as possible.

"She's right," Krystal added, "we will be sure to stay away from it. We just want to go out for a little while, that's all."

The fox on guard gave them an inquisitive look before shrugging his approval. "Alright you two, just be sure to stay out of trouble. Leave it to the guards, we will get this all sorted out."

Without another word, Krystal followed Sera underneath the great stone archway and beyond the village they called home. Rolling hills and green grasslands stretched beyond for as far as the eye could see, twisting and turning with several trails branching out from the main road leading from the village. A tree grew here and there, dotting the calm, peaceful landscape. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, giving nothing away about the mysterious events taking place in the forests to the south.

"I guess we'd better get a move on," Krystal decided as she took the lead. "I don't even know where we are supposed to be going," she confessed. "The forest ahead is so wide and dense, who knows when we will find whatever it is that we are looking for?"

Sera rubbed the long red hair on her head, also pondering where to go from there. "That's a good question, the guards never said anything specifically…" Suddenly her eyes widened as if she had an idea **.** "Hey wait, you can read minds now, right? Can't you locate them from here?

Krystal rubber her chin, nodding slowly. "Why didn't I think of that?" she murmured as she came to a stop. "I'm not sure, but I'll give it a try." The vixen paused and closed her eyes, summoning her telepathic powers to scan the nearby area for mental activity. "I'm still new at this," she commented, "so give me a minute to see what I can find."

Sera simply nodded and stood beside her friend. "No problem, sis, I'll leave it to you!" Scouting out a nearby tree, she walked up to it and sat down at its roots. "Let me know when you find something!" she called.

Nodding her response, Krystal emptied her mind and focused on the plane of mental space. _Locate their thoughts_ , she repeated to herself as she scanned for mental signals. She easily detected mental activity behind her, but that was coming from the village. Instead, she focused her sixth sense on the area south of her, heading in the other direction towards the forest. After a few brief moments, the vixen detected a small mental trace and followed it, honing in on its location.

"I think I found it," she affirmed, "but the signal is still weak from here. It is the source of the most activity coming from the forest, so it's the best lead we've got."

Within seconds, Sera was up on her feet and back at Krystal's side. "Lead the way!" she called, pointing ahead as if she knew exactly where she was going.

Krystal opened her eyes and grinned, setting off toward the direction of the mental signal she detected. "Let's get going, we still have a good distance to cover before we reach the forest."

The pair of she-foxes traveled quite some time before reaching the southern forest. They kept to the dirt trail most of the way, passing numerous connecting streams along the way. Krystal's telepathic sense honed in on her target even stronger as they journeyed onward, occasionally stopping to allow her mind some rest from focusing for so long. Not only telepathy, but also the changing terrain revealed that the entrance to the woods was near, as rolling hills and light, grassy fields gave way to denser tree coverage and darker, more uneven grasslands. Krystal and Sera stopped to rest as they reached the entrance of the forest, where the trees became so thick that they concealed what lay beyond them.

"I guess this is where our search begins," Krystal murmured as she stopped to gaze into the woodlands ahead. She wondered what was waiting for them inside. _What had captivated the interest of the guards so much that they had gone to investigate?_ The young vixen's interest and curiosity suddenly began to turn into fear and worry. She drew her staff from the holster on her back, casting an anxious glance at Sera.

"We need to be ready for anything from here on in," she warned, nodding toward the weapon that Sera kept in a sheath at her waist. "I think it's best that we stay armed; whatever is out there could be dangerous."

Sera nodded her agreement, reaching for her waist and pulling on the hilt of her weapon. From within the black sheath, a glimmering blade emerged. The crimson vixen twirled her rapier before raising it, arming herself as if confronting an enemy already.

"Alright, let's go." Sera's normally cheerful tone had become dark and somber, unsure of what might be waiting for them. "Lead the way Krystal, your telepathic abilities should take us to where we need to go."

Krystal nodded and took the first step into the thickening trees. She cautiously made each move, sensing her way forward as leaves and grass crunched beneath her feet.

"Who knows," her friend piped up with a lighter tone, "maybe it's not dangerous after all? Maybe the guards are just overreacting?"

Krystal wasn't sure if Sera was trying to convince herself, but she knew that something dark and mysterious was taking place. She had spent the whole journey thus far exploring the mental activity and signals coming from within the forest. Someone was there that shouldn't be, and they were surely plotting something. The vixen's sixth sense revealed a mixture of evil and malicious thoughts coming from among the multitude of trees ahead. Whoever the thoughts came from, they must have been enemies.

"Be careful," Krystal warned her friend as they stalked silently through the trees. She tapped again into her telepathic powers, sensing multiple mental signatures up ahead. "I think we are getting pretty close now." She continued leading the way deeper into the woods, passing through the endless clusters of trees that nearly blocked all the sun's light. They rose tall, so high that Krystal had to squint to see the treetops enclosing around them.

Sera cast occasional glances back and forth, clearly feeling more uneasy than Krystal without being able to sense what was ahead. She said nothing but nodded silently as she followed in Krystal's footsteps.

Suddenly a dim humming noise began to cut through the lingering silence of the forest. It sounded like a dullroar, echoing through the trees and rustling the branches above with a gust of wind as the she-foxes pressed onward. Just ahead of her, Krystal noticed that a faint light was beginning to filter through the canopy above, allowing more of the sun's light to beam onto the forest floor.

"The trees must be thinning out ahead," Sera murmured, noticing the sudden change in lighting.

"Do you hear that noise?" Krystalaskedasshetiltedher pointed ears straight ahead. "We must be approaching some kind of clearing, or an opening in the forest." The sound made Krystal feel uneasy; she had never heard anything like it before. It was unlike anything that was native to her home planet.

Sera nodded in reply, her ears searching out the echoing hum as well. "It must be what we are looking for. Let's get a little closer and find somewhere safe to investigate."

Krystal tensed as she crept forward, hoping to find out more information from her telepathy now that she was closer to her target. What had initially been a faint trace of mental activity had now developed into a massive concentration of it, nearly causing Krystal's head to throb in pain as it all entered her mind. As the trees ahead thinned out, the vixen pressed her back against one of their trunks and signaled with a flick of her tail for Sera to do the same.

The blue-furred vixen was right about one thing; they had reached the edge of a large clearing, where the dense forest gave way to open grasslands like those along the forest border. But these lands were not calm and peaceful like those leading up to the forest; the entire area was teeming with activity. Dozens of foreigners swarmed the open space, while large air and ground vehicles roamed the surrounding area. Krystal had never seen anything like this before. Her eyes opened wide as she peered from behind her shelter, absorbing everything that was at work before her.

They must have been soldiers, the vixen gathered, from their uniform dress and the weapons that they carried with them as they scurried about the expanse. They were all either apes or lizards, two species that were not commonly found among the inhabitants of Krystal's home, or all of Cerinia for that matter. They wielded a variety of what appeared to be combat weaponry; some had knives strapped to their chests and legs, while others carried long, rounded weapons with circular openings and triggers for their fingers.

 _Blasters,_ Krystal reflected on what she had been told about the plasmatic weapons by her parents. _Guns, a type of weapon from another planet, from another planetary system._ Round, yellow orbs clung to some of their belts, and many of their eyes were covered with thin, red visors. All of them wore either a dark colored space suit or some style of jacket, again nothing like the clothing Krystal was accustomed to on her planet.

"Who are they?" Sera whispered as she observed the scene. She appeared to be just as captivated by these newcomers as Krystal was.

"More importantly, why are they here?" The blue vixen pondered.

Before either of their questions could be answered, a great gust of wind buffeted the trees around them, nearly shaking the forest to its roots. The mechanical, humming sound grew to a deafening rumble as a new aircraft appeared from out of the sky, slowly descending into the clearing as the soldiers around it guided its operator to a landing. Once the enormous, rectangular carrier ship reached the ground, the gust of wind ceased and numerous soldiers poured out from inside.

Krystal turned and pressed her back against the tree once more. Her mind was racing with questions about what she was witnessing. Who were these soldiers, and what were they doing there? Where were they from, if not Cerinia? Their weapons and technology were not of Cerinian origin. Her home was a peaceful planet, but why did it seem like it was suddenly being invaded?

Sera crouched behind her cover and gripped her rapier tightly in one hand while running her fingers through red her hair with the other. "Krystal, what do we do?" Turning to face her friend, her eyes were full of concern and worry.

"We came here to investigate," the young blue vixen reminded her, determination surging through her even though all her instincts told her to take off and run. "So that's what I'm going to do," Krystal whispered as she focused her mind, channeling her telepathic abilities to scan the minds of the many soldiers working throughout the clearing ahead of them.

At first there were so many different mental traces that Krystal could not identify one soldier or pilot's thoughts from another's. Her previous training had helped to sharpen her mind's eye, but she had never opened her mind to so many incoming signals at once. The initial concentration of mental energy overwhelmed the young vixen so much that she dropped her staff where she stood and grasped her head in agony. Her mind surged with mental activity as she fell forward and her knees hit the rough ground.

 _Come on Krystal, fight it! Remember what Father told you! Concentrate!_ Just when her head felt like it might burst, something seemed to click inside. Suddenly the overflowing sea of voices in Krystal's head began to slow down as different unique mental traces became clear. The minds of dozens of nearby soldiers and pilots raced through the vixen's mind as she read and understood each and every one of them.

Krystal opened her eyes in wonder. "I can see them," she whispered as if speaking only to herself. "Sera," she turned and spoke to her companion, "I can see their thoughts! All of them!" It felt as if the she-fox's mental prowess had grown, with the capability to track significantly more than she had could in the past.

"What are they thinking?" Sera asked urgently. "Find out as much as you can!"

Krystal rose from where she had collapsed, grasping her staff in her hands as she searched through the hundreds of thoughts coming from the nearby clearing. Not all of them were useful, many were seemingly useless and unimportant, but she did manage to stumble upon some worthwhile information. _Their home… it's another planet, somewhere beyond our star system… A planet called Venom…_

The young Cerinian continued to explore the thoughts, feelings, and emotions of those around her. _Why are you here?_ The question continued to fill Krystal's mind as she desperately searched for whatever answers she could find. She sorted through one mind after another, finding nothing of value until she finally picked up on one particular line of thought that interested her.

 _Battle… War… Destruction… Invasion!_ Without warning, Krystal's sixth sense gave out, and she could see nothing but darkness except for two enormous, gleaming red eyes. The cruel and malicious gaze penetrated deep into the very core of her being, consuming all that she was in their treacherous gaze. It was as if her nightmares had followed her into the waking world, and again she sensed a dark presence making itself known.

"Krystal! Krystal!" A dark and ominous voice called out her name.

Her heart began to race, beating like a drum as if it would burst from her chest. A drop of sweat formed on the vixen's forehead, slowly sliding down her temple as a teardrop formed in her eye. The world around her seemed to shrink into nothingness, engulfed entirely by a dark abyss until she heard her name called again.

"Krystal? Krystal! What did you see?"

The familiar voice of Sera stirred the vixen from her thoughts, and she realized that she was back in the woods with her friend, standing behind the tree that gave her shelter from the many soldiers in the glade beyond. She gazed at her surroundings, nearly paralyzed with fear at the recurrence of the eyes from her nightmares. The dreams had come night after night, but had never followed her into the waking world until now. The fox's forehead still trickled with sweat, and the same tear had just fallen from her eye.

"What is it, sis?" Sera asked, her gaze consumed with worry. "Are you alright?"

Krystal shook her head to clear it, swiftly wiping the tear from her eye hoping that her friend had not seen it. Quickly she explained what she had figured out, excluding the vision she had just seen afterward. "They've come from another star system, from a planet called Venom."

Sera shuddered at the planet's very name. "Venom," she repeated out loud. "But why?"

Krystal remembered the words she had sensed from the minds of the Venomian soldiers. _Battle, war, destruction, invasion._ "They are invaders, and I think they seek to gain control of our planet," she whispered grimly.

"Invade Cerinia and gain control?" The crimson vixen shook her head in disbelief. "Why would they come to our planet? Why here and not a planet from their own system?"

Before Krystal could think of an answer to her friend's question, she sensed another mental presence coming from nearby. The sound of leaves crunching and rustling on the forest floor sounded in the vixen's ears, and an ape soldier appeared from within the denser part of the woodland. He glared at Krystal and Sera, halting and pointing in their direction as two lizards flanked him on either side.

"Intruders!" The soldier of planet Venom growled. "Get them!"


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **Retaliate**

"Run!" Krystal yelled as she reached for Sera's hand, leading them away from the gunmen that had spotted them. They took off, sprinting back into the thicker part of the forest away from the clearing filled with Venomian soldiers. From behind them, Krystal could hear the sound of weapons firing, and feel the heat of plasma rounds as they flashed past them. She took a zigzagging path through the trees, trying to avoid most of the blaster rounds coming from behind them.

Sera let go of her hand and sprinted beside her, matching her step for step as they weaved through the woodlands around them. "Who are they? Are they from Venom as well?" The crimson vixen asked between breaths.

Krystal nodded in reply. She read the minds of their pursuers, realizing that they were a scouting patrol from the unknown planet. "They must be patrolling the forest, trying to keep us from finding out about their plans."

"Well it's too late for that," Sera pointed out. "We know too much."

The pair of vixens leaped over a fallen tree trunk and pressed onward, taking an indirect route towards the edge of the forest. Krystal channeled her sixth sense, searching for the Venomians that followed them. They could not be far behind, not only judging from their mental activity, but also from the stray lasers and plasma rounds coming from their blasters.

Suddenly Krystal detected mental activity ahead of them. _More enemies are waiting for us! We are being led into a trap!_

"Sis, what is it?" Clearly Sera picked up on her distress.

"There are more up ahead," the blue-furred she-fox pointed towards a small opening in the trees. "They're cornering us!"

Sera glanced left and right hopelessly. There was nowhere else for them to go; the soldiers they had first run into had split up, flanking them on each side. Sera barely dodged an incoming blaster round as the gleaming ball of blue light soared over her head, just missing Krystal as well.

Another beam came from Krystal's side, striking the bark of a nearby tree. The wood of the tree caught fire on impact, slowly burning out as the fire spread. "We have no other choice," Krystal growled through gritted teeth. "We have to turn and fight!"

"Two against _how_ many?" Sera questioned. "Several behind us, how many ahead?"

The telepath honed her powers ahead once again as she ran. _One, two three…_ she counted the different mental signatures she detected. There were five in total, in addition to the five chasing them from behind. "Ten in total. See that clearing up ahead?"

"Sure, is that where we turn?"

Krystal nodded. The trees up ahead seemed to thin out slightly, where the upcoming Venomian soldiers lie in wait for them. "Attack them head on, then we'll deal with the ones behind us."

The Cerinians burst through the opening in the trees, landing in a small grassy clearing. Just as she predicted, five more enemies stood their ground ahead of them, each one armed and covered in Venomian military gear. Two apes wielded Venomian blasters, while the three lizards in front of them carried gleaming yellow energy swords, beams of energy that protruded from metallic hilts.

Without time to think, the vixens burst into combat, taking the swordsmen head on while the gunmen attacked from the backlines. The first lizard slashed his sword at Sera, who shifted her weight onto one foot to evade and struck back with her rapier, thrusting it forward in a flurry of rapid attacks. Her blade hit its mark, scoring multiple stab wounds through the lizard's shirt and jacket.

Krystal darted forward, about to take on her first foe when the world seemed to come to a halt. Her telepathic senses triggered and came to life, revealing the thoughts of those around her. _The blasters in the back; those should be my primary targets,_ the vixen assessed the oncoming battle. _But I don't have a way through the front_. Instead of taking out the gunmen, she came up with a different plan. _I can see their thoughts… I know where they will shoot next._

As the world began to spin in motion once again, the vixen focused on the thoughts of the Venomian lizard in front of her. His mind betrayed his actions to her. He planned on swinging his laser sword diagonally across her chest. The ape behind him already had his blaster aimed at her as well.

Krystal's next movements came almost instinctively. As the sword of the green reptile came down, she parried the attack with her staff and gripped the lizard's arm with one hand, twisting and forcing it behind his back. With a swift motion, she rotated her enemy into an incoming ball of glowing blue plasma that fired from the nearby ape's weapon and shoved him to the ground.

A glance at Sera showed that she was handling herself just fine, dueling the third lizard as their weapons clashed, sending sparks into the air. _The last marksman is about to shoot at her!_ Krystal read the ape's mind, knowing that he was looking for an opportunity where he could get a clear shot. Just when his mind revealed that he had an opening to fire, Krystal took off.

The ape pulled the trigger of his blaster and a ball of plasma fired from it. Before it reached Sera, Krystal blocked the blast with her staff, feeling the heat from the plasma melting into her weapon. Instantly she released her grip and let her damaged weapon fall to the ground and threw a kick at the shooter before he could get a second shot, knocking him into a nearby tree where he fell, unconscious.

Turning around, the she-fox looked for her friend, who had already defeated the last of the swordsmen. Sera looked on at her friend in shock. "Wow, how did you do that? It's like you knew when they when they were going to shoot! You reacted instantly, no, even _before_ they made their moves!"

"Telepathy, no time to explain," Krystal immediately began searching the forest for mental traces of the Venomians they had been running from. But what Sera told her was right; she had acted on her enemy's moves before she could even process them. It felt like her telepathic powers prompted her to act in the way she did, as if it was pure instinct.

Suddenly, a round yellow orb rolled its way into the clearing. The glowing ball of light was no larger than Krystal's fist, tumbling across the grass until it settled in the middle of the open space.

"What's that?" Sera asked, taking a small step towards it cautiously.

Before Krystal could answer properly, she sensed the mental trace of the five Venomians chasing them before. They had stopped for some reason, taking shelter behind the trees around her. _It's a bomb!_

"Sera, get back!" Quickly the vixen reached for her friend, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her back before the grenade exploded with a bang. Dirt and grass from the surrounding area were thrown up into the air, and the forest rumbled around Krystal as she was thrown from the impact of the blast.

She hit the ground hard and her senses went numb. As she opened her eyes, she found that her vision blurred, and every sound around her rang in her ears. She couldn't feel anything except for the forest floor beneath her. Her body went into shock from the explosion, and she was helpless to defend herself as five figures appeared from the thick of the dust and smoke.

 _Where is Sera? I have to get up, we need to get out of here!_ Thoughts raced through Krystal's mind as her vision slowly cleared enough to see the Venomian ape and four lizard soldiers approach her. The vixen fought to turn her head to the side and managed to find Sera, who appeared to be in no better condition. She had only picked up minor wounds, but was knocked out cold from the impact.

Krystal struggled again to lift herself, but her muscles soon gave out and she fell limp to the ground. Her heart pounded in her chest as the ape neared her, coming so close that his boots stood just beside where her head lay. She fixed her eyes upward to look at her pursuer, but could see nothing past the red visor covering his eyes. The she-fox closed her eyes and feared the worst, when a sound broke the numbing silence around her. It sounded like a soft whistle as a thin object sliced through the air, flying past Krystal and into the chest of one of the lizards. The rod impaled him, penetrating through his jacket and shirt and through the bones in his chest.

The Venomian soldier collapsed to the ground in an instant as blood welled from his wound. Krystal observed the weapon more closely, realizing that it was an arrow with thin, brown feathers at its end. She recognized the arrow; it was Cerinian made.

"Spread out! Find them!" The ape from Venom growled, pointing back into the trees. He turned again towards Krystal when another arrow fired from the thickness of the trees, taking out another of the lizards.

Before they could react further, three shapes covered in Cerinian armor burst out from among the trees and engaged them in battle. The first, Krystal noticed, was a tall feline with dark fur and long, black hair. He threw himself at the ape leading the foreign soldiers, combating his laser sword with a durable sword of his own. The weapon had a curved blade, which must have been a talwarused by some of the Cerinian guard.

A female feline followed, ambushing one of the lizards with a rapid volley of arrows fired from her bow before sliding across the ground and sweeping his feet out from under him with her legs. Her reddish fur gleamed in the filtering sunlight, along with her longer, red hair.

The third attacker came for the last Venomian soldier. The lizard drew his laser sword, but was no match from the oncoming assault. His attacker was a ring-tailed raccoon, wielding two rods with metallic blades hooking from their ends, known as kamas. The coon flailed his weapons skillfully, forcing the lizard quickly into submission before he was slashed across the chest.

The two newcomers who had taken out their targets approached Krystal and Sera, while the male feline chased the remaining Venomian ape deeper into the woods. "Go, return to your commanders! Warn them what happens when you mess with the Cerinian guard!" He called after him, stopping his pursuit as the ape fled deeper into the trees.

"Krystal, are you alright?" The voice came from the young, female feline, who had reached down to help the vixen get to her feet.

Krystal slowly hauled herself up with the cat's help as the strength in her limbs returned to her. She had not obtained many serious wounds from out of range of the explosion radius, but the impact had sent her flying. The only injuries she gained were some cuts and scrapes from the rough forest floor.

"Savannah," the blue vixen stumbled, surprised to find her friend out in the forest with her. She turned to the others and recognized them right away once she regained her full vision. "Atticus, and Fero," she murmured to the feline and the raccoon, respectively. "What are you doing here?"

Fero, the raccoon, helped Sera wake up and get to her feet, allowing her to lean on his shoulder as she regained her shocked senses as well. He said nothing, allowing Atticus to speak for them.

"The real question," the feline narrowed his eyes, "is what are _you_ doing here? The forest is off limits, even for _you_ , the king's daughter. This is a matter for the Cerinian army, so stay out of this!"

Krystal didn't answer immediately. She stared down at her feet in guilt, having to answer to her friends after disobeying orders. Atticus, Savannah, and Fero were part of the Cerinian military, so they had every right to be there. Savannah was still in training, the same age as Krystal and Sera, but her brother Atticus was four years older. He was something of a prodigy **,** taking on training at a young age and becoming a full member of the Cerinian army very early. Fero, on the other hand, was only eighteen years of age, still working to earn his full place among the Cerinian ranks.

"We heard there was trouble out here," Sera answered as she regained her full strength, taking her place by Krystal's side. "So we came to investigate and find out what was going on. We didn't come looking for trouble…"

"Well, it looks like you've found it," the older feline retorted.

Savannah cut her older brother off from saying any more. "Atticus, please," she pleaded, somewhat timid in front of her elder sibling, "what matters is that they are safe." Turning to address Krystal and Sera, she added, "the Cerinian army has been monitoring from a distance, we've been waiting before we made such a dangerous and close approach."

"Actually, we only came out here because we heard that you were missing," Fero confessed. "Your father was worried, and we wanted to come find you before you got into anything serious."

Sera shook off the dirt covering her, shaking her head back and forth to clear it. She found her rapier nearby and picked it up, storing it back in the sheath across her waist. "I think we've actually found out something important. We know where they're from, and why they're here."

"Where _who's_ from? And why _who's_ here?" Atticus tilted his head, giving a questioning look.

"The armies of planet Venom," Krystal finally spoke up as she paced toward the limp body of a soldier and reached for the silver hilt in his hand. She took the object into her own hands, staring it up and down until she located a small button on its side. "They are here for one thing," she murmured, turning to face the others.

"And what is that, Krystal?" Savannah asked, fear and worry filling her gaze.

Krystal pressed the button on the metal hilt, activating the weapon and a glimmering, yellow blade of energy emerged from an opening at one end. The young vixen twirled her newfound weapon before pressing the button again, deactivating it. "Invasion. They've come to take over our planet."

Savannah gasped, and the others gave her concerned looks.

"In that case, you'd better take whatever information you know back to your father," Fero suggested. "You know more than any of the soldiers or guards, surely what you know could help us decide what to do next."

"He's right," Sera nodded. "If you guys haven't learned anything yet, then we have the best lead."

Krystal was about to agree when she thought she heard movement in the surrounding trees. She closed her eyes and focused her mind, searching for traces of mental activity. "We need to get out of here," the vixen urged, "we've got more company coming."

"More? Do you sense them?" Sera asked.

The she-fox nodded. "Yes, they will be here in a matter of minutes."

"Then we have no time to lose, let's get moving," Atticus took the lead as the five companions readied themselves and took off, sprinting out of the clearing and back into the tree coverage once again.

Sera and Krystal followed closely behind him, allowing Fero and Savannah to take the rear. "Can you tell how many?" The red-furred vixen probed as they ran onward, heading for the forest border.

Krystal channeled her telepathic powers, attempting to once again hone in on the signal she detected earlier. Sifting through individual thoughts, she identified those of their pursuers. "It feels like we are losing them. There must be several behind us, maybe six or seven?" She took some more time to pick at their thoughts as she followed her friends, maneuvering through the trees with ease. "But it seems like they gave up… unless…"

"Unless what?"

Finally, one of the Venomians thoughts confirmed what Krystal suspected. "Unless it's another trap!"

Without warning, multitudes of plasma rounds began raining down from the treetops as marksmen fired their blasters and rifles from above. The Venomian soldiers had hidden themselves from sight, but revealed themselves as the unsuspecting Cerinians came into range. Krystal hadn't even detected them with her sixth sense, as she was distracted with the enemies behind her. She and her friends had no choice but to weave their way among the trees as they avoided the glowing balls of plasma coming from above.

"They're above us!" Atticus called from the front of the group. "They must be patrolling these parts of the forest!"

"Yeah, no kidding!" Fero growled.

"Get behind a tree!" Savannah suggested. "We can't keep this up forever, someone is going to get hit!"

Between a break in the blaster fire, the Cerinians spread out and pressed their backs against various trees in a cluster, out of range of the endless gun volleys. Each one took a separate shelter, temporarily relieved from running and dodging as they caught their breaths.

 _We are truly out of their line of sight,_ Krystal confirmed from the thoughts she detected from the Venomian marksmen. _I wonder how long it will take them to readjust?_ She popped her head out from behind her shelter and barely ducked in time to avoid several plasma rounds, missing her for another tree farther back. Its bark blackened and charred on contact, catching a small flame before the plasma faded and the flame went out.

 _Sera, Fero, Savannah, Atticus,_ the vixen scanned each of her companions' minds, affirming that they were all safe as well. They were all feeling anxious and exhausted from their pursuit, each taking shelter nearby. Sera was the closest, with Savannah, Fero, and Atticus taking refuge closer toward the forest's edge. They were not far away now, only needing to pass the next several waves of gunners before safely making their way out.

Suddenly a thought from a nearby marksman caught her mind's eye. Krystal honed in on it, until she realized that the Venomian was slowly making his way toward a clear shot on Sera. The ape nearly had her in his sights, and Krystal could sense his focus and concentration as he readied his finger to pull the trigger on his weapon.

Just then, the shot was fired and a ball of plasma fired from the tree above, hurtling toward Sera. Acting again almost on instinct, Krystal raced from the cover of her tree and drew the laser sword she had picked up. Time seemed to slow down as she pressed the button on the hilt and the glowing yellow blade emerged once again. As the plasma round edged its way toward Sera, she braced herself before Krystal intercepted it. The round clashed against the blade of her weapon and reflected off it, tearing through the treetops and back towards the shooter, who met his own round in surprise as it burned through his clothing and into his chest. The ape fell right out of the tree and down to the ground.

Time began to move once again in motion, as Krystal and Sera glanced at each other without saying a word.

"Run for it!" Atticus called out as he dashed from his cover and the others followed.

Krystal and Sera took off together from the same location, joining back up with Fero and Savannah as they tailed him. Together the Cerinians weaved their way through the remaining trees, guided by the increasing light as the forest dispersed ahead of them.

The thoughts of some dozen Venomian soldiers entered Krystal's mind as she scanned them, honing in on where each one was targeting. She immediately sensed a lizard with his eyes on Fero. He was in a tree flanking them from the left side, the vixen detected. Just when she read his thought to pull the trigger, she drew her laser sword up to deflect the plasma round aimed at Fero and reflected it back at him.

Several enemies aimed at her, but she avoided their fire, dodging around some and reflecting others back. One Venomian lizard leaped out from the treetops, hoping to catch Krystal off guard with an aerial attack, but she had seen his thoughts in her mind first. She knew when and where he was landing, and thrust her shining blade through his shoulder before he landed on the ground in a slump, too injured to land properly. The scaly warrior was completely caught by surprise, thinking he had the advantage in the attack.

"Krystal, come on!" The vixen was so focused on repelling her foe's attacks that she barely heard Sera calling her name. She and the others had reached the edge of the forest safely and were waiting on her to follow before they left the woods completely.

The blue-furred vixen turned and raced for the border, nearly tripping on the roots of a tree as she burst forward into the light, finally leaving the forest behind her. She continued on as the last thin layers of trees gave way to open grasslands and blue skies, and the dangers facing her in the forest seemed to fade away into the darkness of the trees behind her.

Gasping for breath, the vixen stopped running once she had caught up to the others, who were resting at the top of a hill overlooking the forest entrance. Sera and Savannah sat in the short grass, catching their breaths, while Fero and Atticus stood gazing back at the forest as if expecting hordes of Venomian soldiers to come flooding out of the trees.

"About time you joined us," Atticus rolled his eyes. "I thought we were going to have to leave you back there while we went on without you."

"That's a little harsh," Savannah gave her brother a disapproving look as she and Sera rose to their feet. "Give Krystal a break, she probably saved Sera's life! Did you see her block that shot?"

"Yea, that was awesome!" Fero laughed. "How did you do that, anyway? When did you learn how to deflect things out of the air?"

Krystal looked down at her hands, and again at the new weapon she had taken from the Venomians. She herself could barely explain it, everything seemed to happen almost out of instinct, or reflex. As soon as she detected the thought with her sixth sense, her body rushed to act on it out of impulse.

"I… I don't really know," she admitted. "It's my sixth sense, my telepathy. I read the shooter's mind, and I knew."

"Knew what?" Atticus probed, looking at her with a longing desire to understand what she meant.

"I could see where he was aiming… I knew when he would pull the trigger before he even could," Krystal explained. "The response, well… It was more like an instinct. I just reacted, that's all."

Atticus pondered on what she told him as he reached behind him and lowered his talwar into the sheath strapped across his back. The older feline was always so inquisitive, so interested in learning all that he could and somehow so wise beyond his youth. It was no surprise that he was so curious about Krystal's gift.

"Well done Krystal," Savannah gave her a smile as she placed her bow over her shoulder and her remaining arrows in the quiver on her back.

Fero followed suit, flipping his kamas and forcing their blades to retract before storing them in the two holsters on his waist.

"We need to get out of here," Atticus warned. "The enemy is keeping to the forest for now, but they may try to follow us. Besides," he added with a glare at Krystal and Sera, "you two had better be getting home. Your parents won't be happy to hear where you've been."

Krystal wanted to snap back at him, but decided against it. The last thing she needed was to get into more trouble. Instead she followed behind Atticus, Savannah, and Fero with Sera at her side as they began the trek back home.

The blue vixen suddenly realized how quiet her best friend had been. Sera had hardly spoken since they left the forest, which was oddly surprising, especially for her.

"Hey, sis," Krystal nudged her friend lightly as they walked along, "are you alright? You've hardly said a word since we escaped the forest..." Her face twisted with worry. "You're not hurt, are you?"

Sera trudged along beside her, staring down at her feet. She looked as if deep in thought, but still wouldn't reveal what was troubling her. She looked up at Krystal, meeting her eyes for a moment and hesitating before refusing to speak up.

"Don't make me have to read your mind," Krystal reminded her about her sixth sense. "You can't hide anything from me, Sera." She gave her friend a stern look. Whatever was troubling her, she needed to find out. If Sera wasn't going to tell her, she would find out anyway.

The others remained mostly silent, occasionally making light conversation and glancing back to see if Krystal and Sera were still following them. After spacing themselves out from the rest of the group, Sera finally spoke up.

"I'm not hurt or anything, nothing serious... But I just can't stop thinking about how you saved my life... I didn't even see the shot coming, and you came in out of nowhere and deflected it. You're so strong, Krystal..."

This confused the blue-furred vixen. Why was her fiend so concerned about how she had been saved? "What does that even matter? You would have done the same for me," she encouraged. "You're strong too Sera, I know it."

Sera blinked at Krystal and her shoulders slumped. "Yes, I would have done the same for you... If I could have..."

A shallow stream passed beside them, quickly curving sideways so that the vixens had to step across it to continue onward. Krystal surveyed her surroundings, realizing that the road home was still long and the day was starting to grow darker. The sun was slowly descending in the sky, and she wondered if they would make it back home before dark.

"What do you mean, _if you could have?_ " The words echoed in Krystal's mind. She glimpsed into Sera's thoughts and found the reason for her worry surfacing, and the look she was given confirmed that she had found out why.

Sera sighed deeply. "I knew you'd find it before I could tell you. It's just something my father said during our training earlier. He is the captain of the Royal Guard, and it is his duty to protect and defend the king and queen, even with his life if necessary..."

"And you feel the same way about me," Krystal finished her friend's thought for her. "You want to live up to your father's reputation and follow in his footsteps."

The crimson vixen nodded. "As the daughter of the captain of the guard, that role will be passed down to me." She paused, then suddenly words started spilling out of her mouth. "But it feels like I'll never be the guard my father is! Look at what happened today! It should have been _me_ saving _you_ , but instead I was almost killed and you had to protect me."

Krystal was taken aback by her best friend's reaction. To her, it didn't matter who saved whose life, all that mattered was that they were both safe. She desperately wanted to tell Sera how she felt, but as she searched for the right words, she couldn't find them. Instead she remained silent as Sera continued.

"That's how it's always been... Every time we go and get into trouble, you end out as the hero. You're the one who saves the day. Not just for me, but everyone," she murmured, looking on at the trio walking ahead of them. "Even for Atticus, Savannah, and Fero... The way you fought, the way you impressed them... Sometimes I wish that it could be me, instead."

Krystal leaned over and rested her arm over Sera's shoulders. "Don't you worry, sis," she encouraged, again referring to her as a sister, "I have a feeling that you will be the greatest the Royal Guard has ever seen. I'm sure you will make your father- and your mother- proud."

The telepath hesitated to mention Sera's mother in front of her. One of the Royal Guard like her father, Sera's mother died giving birth to their only child. Since then, she was rarely spoken of, as the subject generated so much grief among Sera and her father. Nonetheless, Krystal felt like this was a time to mention her. She truly felt like Sera would make a noble warrior, one to make both of her parents proud to have her as a daughter.

"Thanks, sis," the red-furred vixen was warmed by her friend's praise. Her shoulders raised themselves slightly, and her gloomy look turned slowly into a smile. "Do you really think so?" She asked, still somewhat unsure of herself. "How do you know?"

Krystal gave her friend a light nudge and a smile. "Of course I'm sure! When have I ever been wrong?" She winked playfully. "Come on, let's go catch up with the others."


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **Possession**

Night had fallen by the time Krystal and her friends reached the outskirts of their village. The Cerinian sun had begun to descend as she and her company left the forest, lowering in the sky until darkness engulfed nearly everything in sight. The Cerinians followed the trail home in almost complete silence, guided only by memory as they passed through the marketplace and towards the stone wall surrounding the royal palace.

Krystal and Sera remained in the back of the group, following closely behind Fero and Savannah, who were led by Atticus. As Krystal reflected on what she had discovered that day, she could hardly imagine the trouble she would be in when her father heard about what she had done. She had explicitly been told to avoid the southern forest, and she had not only disobeyed him, but also put Sera and the others in danger.

The blue vixen bit her lower lip, anxious about how her father would react. _How_ dare _you disobey me! Krystal, what were you thinking!_ She could already hear the king scolding her, as if he was speaking to her right then and there.

Suddenly Krystal gasped. She wasn't imagining her father's words. He was communicating with her telepathically! Unaware of her surroundings, Krystal realized that they had nearly reached the palace courtyard, where several torches blazed in the overwhelming darkness. The vixen honed her telepathic powers and sensed the thoughts of her father, along with Sera's, accompanied by a patrol of Cerinian warriors.

Atticus approached the awaiting guards, bowing his head before the King of Cerinia in acknowledgment. The rest of the returning party halted behind him, where Sera gave Krystal a sympathetic glance before the king spoke up.

"Well done, Atticus. It appears that you found them," Krystal's father singled her out with narrowed eyes. He paused for a moment, taking his time to scan the thought patterns of the returning group before continuing. He spent a particular amount of time focused on Krystal, who could sense her father probing into her mind and learning about what had transpired. The young vixen almost thought she caught a hint of amusement and interest in her father's eyes before he spoke up again.

"The hour is late," the king murmured as he glanced around at the guards beside him. "We have much to discuss, but here is not the place." Turning towards the path leading to the palace, he signaled for the others to follow him.

Krystal and Sera followed last, flanked by Cerinian guards as they followed the others up the pathway through the courtyard. Neither of them dared to say a word on their way up the stairs leading to the palace. Krystal could sense her father's frustration and disappointment coming from his thought patterns in waves, but he gave nothing away to the others as he and his guards reached the palace entrance.

Sera's father stepped past the others, knocking at the palace door before taking a step back. Slowly, the gateway opened and he led the way inside. Krystal followed the others inside as the darkness was sealed away behind them, replaced with the dim light of many flickering torches lining the palace walls.

The Great Hall leading to the throne room was completely void of any activity, except for the occasional roaming of the guards as Krystal followed the others into the throne room. There, her father dismissed the majority of the soldiers escorting them, along with Atticus, Fero, and Savannah. He and Sera's father wished to speak to their daughters privately about the trouble they had gotten into.

"Sera, Krystal, where have you been? You've had both of us worried sick about you!" Sera's father burst out loud, breaking the silence at the foot of the king's throne.

Krystal opened her mouth to answer, but she was cut off by her father, who knew exactly where they had been. He had been probing into her mind since they came into eyesight, searching for exactly everything he needed to know using his telepathy without even asking.

"These two decided that they would do some investigating of the southern forest," the king murmured, casting a glance at his friend and guard, "alone, and unsupervised."

"Sera, what were you two thinking, going into the southern forest by yourselves?" Her father questioned. "I thought I made it clear during training this morning that you were _not_ to go there under _any_ circumstances. And of all things, you went _alone!_ Do you have any idea how reckless and irresponsible you have been?"

Krystal cast her gaze sideways at her friend, who was trembling beneath her crimson fur.

"What do you mean by _irresponsible_?" Sera lashed back, eyes glistening on the verge of tears. "We wanted to go see what was out there! If there is anything out there threatening us, we have the right to know about it!"

The captain of the Royal Guard took a step forward, challenging his daughter further. "You have no idea the kind of danger you were in! The guards have been monitoring the situation since it started; this is no place for children!"

"We aren't going to be children forever, you know!"

"I already lost your mother! I can't lose you, too!"

Suddenly the throne room grew quiet. Krystal just stared at the father and daughter in bewilderment, as they realized how far out of line they had gone. Ashamed of himself, Sera's father shook his head back and forth and let his nerves settle. Watching the two argue with each other, Krystal realized how similar Sera was to her father. They possessed the same fiery spirit and passionate soul within them.

"That's enough," the king sighed, glancing at Krystal before turning back to his closest advisor and friend. "For their act of disobeying direct orders, they will be punished. Neither of you are to be permitted access outside the palace grounds tomorrow. Is that understood?"

Krystal wanted to protest, but held her tongue. The last thing she needed was to get in even deeper trouble with her father. Glancing at Sera, she could tell that her friend thought the same. The red vixen hung her head low, letting her long hair hang down over one shoulder.

"I guess we should just be lucky they are still alive, and relatively unharmed," Krystal's father continued in a more calm tone. "Go now and rest for the night. Tomorrow is another day."

Sera was the first to turn away, slowly followed by her father and Krystal until her father's words stopped her.

"Krystal, wait," the king commanded. "I must speak with you alone."

 _I hope I'm not in even more trouble_ , Krystal thought to herself with worry. _It was_ my _idea to find out what was going on in the first place._ I _was the one to put our lives in danger, not Sera_. She turned and faced her father again, who stood just before the steps preceding the thrones themselves. Neither of them spoke another word until Sera and her father's footsteps could be heard echoing down the corridor leading further through the palace.

"Father, I'm sorry for everything," Krystal began to beg. "I didn't want to put the lives of the others at stake, I was just curious. I shouldn't have persuaded Sera into joining me, I shouldn't have gone into the southern forest at all…" As her father listened to her words, again she sensed his thoughts of interest mixed in with disappointment and worry.

"Krystal, what you did was wrong," the king admitted, "but at the same time I feel that something good came of this situation."

The young vixen raised her eyes to gaze into her father's. She didn't understand what he meant. Why was he so intrigued as he telepathically read her thoughts?

"I have seen your mind and I've learned what you've learned, my daughter. Until now, the guards have been watching the oncoming invasion from a distance… but none of them have been able to learn anything about these newcomers. The armies of planet Venom have come to our planet with the desire to control it… is this true?"

Krystal gasped. Her father had read right through her. "Yes, that is what I found out," the vixen nodded. "I read the thoughts of some of the invaders… They were landing in large numbers in a clearing in the forest. They carried strange weapons, and flew in ships that were nothing like what we have here." Krystal shuddered as she remembered her fears and visions surrounding the Venomian invaders. She was curious about where they had come from, and why they were so determined to take control of her home. "Father, what do you know of planet Venom? Why are they here on our planet now?"

The King of Cerinia shook his head. "I don't know… I have never heard of Venom before. I don't even think it is in the same star system as our planet."

"But there must be something we can do about it!" Krystal protested. "Why here? Why now? I don't understand!"

Her father took a deep sigh and locked eyes with her. "Neither do I… for now, we will continue to monitor the situation. I will send patrols to investigate the area more closely and see what more we can find out about our new enemy. In the meantime, there is something else developing."

Krystal tilted her head sideways. What did her father mean by this?

"Your telepathic powers are growing at an impressive rate," the king acknowledged. "I know how you fought to protect the others in the forest, I've seen the things you can do with your mind. Your power is much stronger than that of someone just coming of age."

"I guess I have felt it too," Krystal murmured. "I can sustain my sixth sense longer than before in training already. And when I fought, I was able to read an enemy's thoughts and strike back almost like a reflex."

"Well done, my daughter," the king returned her smile, impressed with how much she had grown in such short of time. "Now it is getting late, and you must be off to bed. Sleep well Krystal, for tomorrow's training intensifies."

Krystal paced down the dark and lonely corridors of the royal palace, eyes weary with sleep as she navigated towards her room mostly relying on memory. While she walked through the empty halls, lit only by the light of torches occasionally lining the walls, she pondered her father's reaction to what had happened that day.

 _I wonder what will come in tomorrow's training?_ The vixen thought to herself. _Father said that my training would get tougher, but I don't really know what that means…_ With the passing of time, Krystal's muscles began to ache and her minor wounds from earlier began to take their toll on her body. _I guess I should count myself lucky, someone could have been hurt much worse,_ she signed, tempted to complain about having to train when she was still sore.

Suddenly, Krystal realized that she had almost completely forgotten about the weapon she had managed to scavenge from the southern forest. Reaching into a pocket in her shorts, she retrieved the short, metallic hilt and ran her fingers up and down its cold exterior. When she located a single button, she tapped it lightly and a glowing, yellow beam of energy extended from the weapon's hilt. The blade resembled something like the traditional sword from Krystal's home planet, but the plasmatic energy emitted from the weapon was like nothing she had ever seen or heard of before.

Krystal studied the blade's glimmering light in the darkness around her, twirling the weapon in her hands as she admired the technology that was beyond that of Cerinia. _I need to tell my father about this,_ the blue-furred vixen remarked, as she had completely forgotten about it earlier. She continued on her way to her room, using the yellow light of the sword to guide her until she thought she heard voices whispering up ahead.

"How many times is she going to have to save you? Sera, you are a member of the Royal Guard, _my_ daughter; that makes protecting and serving Krystal _your_ responsibility."

"I know that, Father… but somehow I'm just not strong enough. It seems like _she's_ always the one protecting _me_ …"

Krystal immediately pressed the button on her newfound weapon, causing the glimmering plasmatic blade to fade away into the darkness surrounding her. Then it dawned on her that she was eavesdropping on Sera and her father by mistake. Slowly, the images of the two became clearer as Krystal approached Sera's room, which was located just before hers at the end of the hallway.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude," Krystal bowed her head respectfully to Sera's father while trying to hide the embarrassment on her face. "I was just heading to my room for the night."

Sera lowered her head, waiting for her father to speak for her. "Don't worry about it," the look on the Captain of the Guard's face seemed to lighten after speaking so harshly to his daughter. "We were just finishing, go on and get some sleep tonight, you both need it."

The Captain signaled with his head for Krystal to pass by and enter her room, but she didn't need to told twice. With a brief sympathetic glance toward Sera, she left the father and daughter to their conversation as she opened the door to her room and shut it behind her.

 _I don't mean to be so hard on her, I only want her to be able to protect those she cares about, unlike I could for her mother…_ With a jolt, Krystal realized that she had picked up on the thought patterns of Sera's father. Though it was harsh of him to push Sera the way that he had, Krystal was beginning to understand why he acted the way he did towards her.

"It must be hard for both of them," Krystal sighed as she let her sixth sense rest and headed towards her bed. She could almost see nothing as she felt her way to the end of her room, where she sat on her bed and unstrapped her sandals. Tossing them aside, she took one last look at the metallic hilt of her sword before setting it on the nightstand beside her bed. She unstrapped the leather holster across her back, placing it and the staff it carried next to her other weapon. Krystal barely had the energy left to lift her legs onto her bed and felt her body collapse with tiredness, closing her eyes to let darkness consume what little light was left in the night.

Krystal's sleep that night was plagued with nightmares; they began within the forest south of the royal palace. The vixen found herself among the hordes of soldiers from planet Venom, watching in horror as they landed with massive war machines and spread themselves deeper through the forest. Within what felt like seconds, the woodlands around Krystal transformed into a battlefield. She found herself just outside the palace grounds, among the guards and warriors of Cerinia as they fought to defend themselves from the armies of Venom.

The Cerinian natives fought courageously, but could not hold back the onslaught of lasers and missiles streaming from the tanks and ships from Venom. Krystal wandered throughout the warzone, desperately calling out for her friends, and for her parents, but they were not to be found. Grenades exploded around her, and the ground shook with the rumbling of tire treads from the Venomian war tanks and the endless explosions all around her.

Krystal's head began to spin and she willed for the madness around her to cease, when suddenly the battlegrounds faded, replaced with nothing but darkness. A dense fog swirled around the vixen as two familiar, red eyes awakened. Krystal froze, with nothing to do but stare back as they seemed to penetrate deep into her mind and soul.

 _It's only a dream, another nightmare,_ Krystal reassured herself, fighting back the tears that formed in her eyes and the sweat that formed around her forehead and palms. Without warning, a shadowy arm protruded from the darkness below the pair of eyes, forcing Krystal's heart to skip a beat as it shot forward, reaching for her. Just when she thought the shadow's clawed fingers would reach her forehead, Krystal forced herself awake and the vision faded.

"Krystal! Krystal, are you alright?"

With several knocks at her bedroom door, Krystal realized that it was her mother that was calling out her name. Unable to answer, she simply shot her torso upward and stared down into her lap. Eyes wide awake and heart racing, she had to force herself to take each breath without screaming. Her recurring nightmare was becoming more and more real each night, this time seeming to hover on the verge of fantasy and reality.

"Are you awake? Krystal, please answer me…" The voice of her mother again penetrated through the wooden door to her bedroom.

Forcing herself to calm down and take deep breaths, Krystal lifted her blankets off her legs and swung them off the bed, barely able to keep herself steady as the stood up. "Coming, Mother," she called, turning to face her mirror as she prepared to straighten herself up.

Before she could even straighten her shoulder-length hair, Krystal almost leaped out of her fur when she met the gaze of the reflection staring back at her. Her regular blue-green eyes were not their natural color; instead, each iris reflected a deep shade of crimson red. With a jolt, Krystal realized that her eyes matched the eyes haunting her dreams each night.

"What's wrong? Won't you let me in?" The Queen of Cerinia beckoned, still persistent that she be let in.

Blinking rapidly, Krystal shook her head and then shut her eyes, willing that they return to their natural color. When she opened them, they were back to normal, as if nothing had ever changed. Krystal breathed a deep sigh of relief. _I must be simply imagining things,_ the young she-fox thought as she put the dream behind her and answered her mother at the door.

As the wooden door slowly opened, the queen faced her daughter with a look of concern. She gazed lovingly into Krystal's blue eyes with her own, tilting her head slightly and smiling. "You really had me worried there for a minute, Krystal," she sighed as she entered the room, her beautiful, silk dress trailing lightly behind her. As the Queen of Cerinia, Krystal's family possessed some of the finest silks and clothing in all the kingdom, possibly all of Cerinia, itself. Krystal was almost taken aback by her mother's beauty as she seemed to radiate the Cerinian sunlight that filtered in through the lonely window in her room.

Krystal almost stuttered when searching for the right words to explain herself. "I'm sorry for the delay… I guess I've been having quite a few nightmares lately, that's all. I was just…" she hesitated, lost for words to explain what she had just dreamt and woken up to, "… trying to make sense of it all."

"You really have been having trouble sleeping lately, haven't you?" Krystal's mother turned to face her, assuming a more serious gaze. "Your father mentioned it earlier, he said that sometimes he would detect your thoughts in the middle of the night."

"What?!" The word forced itself out of Krystal's mouth before she could stop herself. "I mean… how much does Father know about my nightmares?"

The queen returned her daughter's shock with a smile. "Not too much, it's probably just hard on you, going through so much right now."

Krystal ran her fingers through her hair, nervously. "What do you mean? What am I going through?"

Without a word, her mother gestured for her to take a seat on her bed as she sat down. Krystal obeyed, rather reluctantly. "You are going through a lot right now, Krystal," her mother repeated. "You are just coming of age, and your telepathic powers are really starting to bloom. You have such a gift, something that I can only begin to understand…" The queen paused, "also, with the recent invasion of the southern forest area. Your father has been giving me all the news, including your little misadventure yesterday…"

Krystal hung her head, "oh, that… so he told you, then?" Searching into her mother's thoughts, she expected to feel mistrust and disappointment. Instead, the felt a hint of amusement and humor emitting from the queen's thought patterns.

Lifting her eyes, Krystal realized that the same emotions were present on her mother's face. The queen gave her a closed-eyed grin while chuckling lightly to herself.

"I remember your father when he was your age," the matriarch reminisced. "He was always getting himself into trouble as a young adult, especially when he was with Sera's father. Oh, the things they would get into together… it's a surprise to many that he turned out to be as great of a leader as he did."

Krystal gave a look of surprise. "I had no idea my father had that side to him," she laughed. "Who would have known?"

"And," the queen added, "I think you will turn out to be just as great of a leader as he is someday."

"Thanks, mother," Krystal leaned over and wrapped her arms around the queen, who returned her embrace. "I'll do my best for you, for him, and for everyone." For a moment, she was lost in her mother's embrace; the fears and worries from her nightmares and the world around her seemed to fade into nothing, until her mother spoke up again.

"Your father told me to get you for training," she said as she released her daughter from her grasp. "He said you would be meeting him in the courtyard this morning."

Krystal stood up and stretched her arms and legs, glancing around her room and taking inventory of what she would need to take with her to training. She spent a particular amount of time focused on one single item; the metallic rod that lay on the nightstand beside her bed, the plasmatic energy sword that she had stolen from the invaders of Venom.

"Well, I'd better not keep Father waiting, then."

The sun shone high in the sky as Krystal departed from the palace and began down the walkway toward the courtyard outside. The warmth of the sunlight and cool of the breeze seemed to welcome the vixen as the proceeded downward, preparing herself for what might come in her training with her father. Squinting, she could make out the images of her father and a host of Cerinian warriors flanking him on either side. Krystal strained to perceive their thought patterns, and gathered that they were all here for her training.

 _What do you have planned today, Father?_ Krystal thought, hoping to project her thoughts for the king to detect. As she finally reached the bottom of the stairway, they stood face to face with each other.

 _You'll see, Krystal,_ the king grinned as he directed his thought patterns toward her. The crown atop his head gleamed in the morning sun, along with the steel-plated armor that scaled his frame. He no longer wore his kingly robe, allowing Krystal to see traces of her father's muscles underneath the steel plates and leather armor he wore. A leather holster similar to hers was strapped to his back, where he was surely to wield his magical staff, the birthright of the royal family.

"From what I hear, your powers are growing at an alarming rate," the king murmured. He sounded almost surprised as he continued, "Atticus reported to me the things you did in the southern forest yesterday… From what he said, you brought back a weapon of the enemy; may I see it now?"

Krystal nodded, lifting the weapon she held in her right hand. "When we were ambushed, I took this from one of our attackers," the vixen pressed the button on the side of the weapon's hilt and a brilliant beam of yellow energy emitted, extending from the metal rod as a blade. "The armies of Venom use weapons unlike anything I've ever seen," Krystal remarked as she twirled the blade for her father and the guards to analyze. "Have you ever seen something like this before, Father?"

The king paced toward his daughter, eyes widening as he studied the weapon. After several moments, deep in thought, he gave a slow shake of his head. "I've heard of this technology, but never before have I seen it on our planet. May I?"

As her father extended his hand, Krystal carefully handed the weapon to him.

"The blade," the king explained as he backed up and swung the sword lightly in front of him, "is made of pure energy, a form of plasma, not unlike those rifles and blasters they carry." Without hesitation, he slashed the weapon sideways, slicing several blades of grass and flowers from the ground below him. "This form of energy is dangerous; it pierces through even some of the strongest metals. This 'laser sword…' Atticus reported that you could use it to deflect incoming blaster rounds?"

"That's correct," Krystal nodded in acknowledgement as she was handed her weapon back. "When the blade meets Venomian blaster rounds, they seem to… repel each other." She thought back to her incident the day before, when she had barely saved Sera's life from an incoming attack. Her training with her father that day, along with her telepathic powers, had proven to be very useful.

The voice of the king interrupted Krystal's thoughts, bringing her back to the courtyard around her. "Well then, let me see for myself!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Krystal spotted a glowing ball of red light approaching her, nearly the size of her fist. Pivoting on one foot, she feinted backward and allowed the plasma shot to deflect off her energy sword, casting it upwards into the sky where it was lost without a trace.

 _What? How did that-_ Krystal's thought was cut short when she realized that the guards surrounding her each had drawn a plasma rifle of their own, surrounding her in a circle so that there was no escape. It was no wonder why her father seemed so eager to begin her training today; he wanted to see how she handled herself in the forest for himself.

Before another plasma round came her way, she closed her eyes and let the world around her slow to a stop, gathering intel from the thought patterns of the armed Cerinian guards encircling her. _They have been instructed to give it their all! My father gave the order to shoot relentlessly!_ The young she-fox began to panic; she couldn't possibly take on this many foes at once. It seemed like her father was _trying_ to get her killed!

 _Focus, Krystal,_ another voice entered her mind. _I believe in you, what you are capable of… Show me you have what it takes to save this world from the armies of Venom!_

As the world spun in motion and Krystal braced herself for combat, her father's thoughts gave her confidence. When the next laser was in range, she slashed her blade downward and sliced through the plasma, splitting the round in half on impact and sending plasma flying past her on either side. Multiple rounds came from different directions, and Krystal rolled out of the way, noticing that her father had leaped from the middle of the courtyard and was watching from a distance.

 _Alright then, I'll show you what I can do!_ Racing forward, Krystal darted toward the closest of the Cerinian soldiers at a full sprint. Laser rounds flashed by from all sides, but the daughter of the king read her shooters' minds telepathically and knew who was going to shoot, and when. Deflecting several blasts in rapid succession, she reached her target and slashed her laser sword upward, cutting the guard's blaster in half and then throwing a kick to knock her foe backward.

As two plasma rounds approached on each side, Krystal leaped straight into the air and watched as they soared beneath her. Landing in a crouched position on the ground, she noticed that one of the soldiers was making an advance, closing the gap between them so he could get a more accurate shot. Krystal welcomed the challenge, dashing towards the gunman and sweeping her leg low, knocking the guard off balance and forcing him to the ground.

Before the next shot behind her could even reach, Krystal gripped her weapon's hilt in both hands and lowered the blade behind her back, deflecting the plasma round back into the gun of its handler. The rifle sparked when plasma met its interior, rendering the firearm completely useless.

A seeming endless volley of plasma rounds streamed towards Krystal, forcing her to circle around the courtyard as she deflected and avoided the incoming fire. With a satisfactory grin, she realized that she was beginning to cut down the number of soldiers firing at her. She now faced only three armed guards, spread out across the courtyard. _I need a plan of attack_ , Krystal thought as she reached the fountain in the center, gently dampening her fur as mist sprayed and water droplets splashed outside the pools of water beside her.

Laser rounds continued to flash past Krystal from her cover, occasionally cutting into the stone encompassing the courtyard fountains as plasma sliced into the rock. Deactivating the laser sword by pressing the button on the handle, the vixen crouched low and peered around the stone base of the fountain, realizing that her attackers were fanning out, planning to surround her on all sides. _Come on, think of something,_ Krystal bit her lower lip and glanced sideways in both directions. The guard flanking her right side was almost within striking range; he would be her first target. _The other two aren't too far away,_ she reasoned, _I should be able to take them head on if I can parry their blaster rounds effectively._

Taking a deep breath, Krystal rolled sideways and darted out from the cover of the fountains, engaging her laser sword by swiping her thumb past the power button just in time to deflect the first shot aimed straight for her. Turning to repel a shot aimed for her from the side, Krystal completed her spin with a slash, slicing the blaster from the hands of the guard before her. Without hesitation, she darted toward the two remaining gunners skillfully weaving her laser sword back and forth to deflect incoming fire.

As she closed the gap toward her final targets, Krystal felt a surge of rage fill her mind and body. _Why are they firing at me with the intent to harm? How can this possibly be part of my training? I'll show my father what happens when he puts his own guards against me!_ As she read the minds of the guards, a well-timed parry deflected a plasma round back into the shoulder of one of them, burning a hole through his steel chest plate and scorching his body.

Shock and alarm filled the other warrior as instead of fighting back, he let his blaster fall to the ground. Before he could even rush to the aid of his ally, Krystal had reached him, positioning her blade along his throat. Eyes narrowed and lips drawn back in a snarl, Krystal barred her teeth as she held the remaining soldier at the mercy of her blade.

"Krystal, that's enough!" The sound of her father's voice brought Krystal back to reality.

Suddenly, aware of what she had done, Krystal gasped and took several paces backward, nearly fumbling into the fountains at the center of the courtyard. The laser sword fell from her grasp and the blade disappeared as the weapon hit the stone walkway beneath her feet.

 _What have I done?_ The young vixen breathed as she cast her glance back at the wounded Cerinian warrior. Somehow, her emotions had gone beyond her control. It almost felt as if another presence was working in her mind, causing her to become aggressive and violent.

"Father, I'm sorry," Krystal choked on her words as she turned to see her father's furious gaze. Turning toward the fountains beside her, she almost gasped as she stared into her distorted reflection, rippling back and forth with the spray of the water. Just as before, in her room, her eyes were not as they normally were; instead of blue, Krystal met two blood red eyes staring back into hers.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **This Is War**

"Father, I'm so sorry," Krystal shuddered, feeling ashamed of what she had done. With a blink of her eyes, the reflection of her two crimson irises returned to their natural sapphire color. Turning away from the fountain, Krystal gazed in horror at the expressions on the guards faces as they lifted their metal helmets. The guard whom she injured had fallen to the ground, the orange fox's hands pressed against his shoulder where Krystal had deflected the plasma shot into him.

Krystal looked to her father helplessly, unable to find the words to speak as he approached the scene. His gaze was fixed sternly on his daughter, eyes not leaving hers as he spoke.

"It looks like we have had enough for now," the king murmured, rubbing his chin with one hand. "Guards, you may return to the palace. Get your injuries dressed at once; I apologize for my daughter's actions."

Two of the Cerinian soldiers helped their injured comrade to his feet, one supporting him on each side as they made their way from the courtyard. The remaining guards exchanged shocked and bewildered glances at each other as they headed towards the palace entrance.

As they passed by, the most injured guard halted as he reached Krystal. Seeing the apprehension and guilt on the young vixen's face after being chastised by her father, the guard spoke up. "Your majesty," he grunted, addressing the king, "don't be too hard on her… it's only a scratch, this was bound to happen in such intense training."

The King of Cerinia turned from his daughter, holding the gaze of his bodyguard without speaking a word. His stern expression was unchanged by the soldier's kind words, but Krystal felt a light burden lift from off her shoulders. As she scanned the mind of the injured guard, she knew his words to be sincere.

Over the years as Krystal had grown up, all the Royal Guard had been close friends to the royal family. From the time she was a small child, she could always remember the kindness and support she and her parents received from their warriors; she would have hated for this moment in time to damage that relationship. At times, the Royal Guard seemed almost like an extended family.

Krystal gave the three remaining guards a warm smile before they proceeded up the stone walkway toward the palace gates. She dared not say another word before her father, still upset and unsure of how she let her emotions become so out her control. Instead, she held her tongue, meditating on her behavior in front of her father and the guards during the training session.

 _Does this have something to do with my dreams?_ The vixen wondered, reflecting on how her eyes appeared to hold the same crimson gaze as those from her nightmares. Krystal thought she felt the presence of a foreign entity around her for weeks, since the start of her recurring nightmares, but this strange spirit had never felt as close to her as it did now.

The king also remained silent for several moments, as if he too was analyzing what he had just witnessed. Father and daughter stood before each other in silence for what seemed like an eternity before the king finally spoke up. "Krystal, what was that about? This was meant to be a training session, not a real battle."

"I could read the minds of the guards," Krystal burst out, unable to keep quiet any longer. "They shot at me with the intent to harm, I felt it in their thought patterns!"

"They fired as they were commanded to, that is no excuse!" The king dismissed her response. "I gave the guards their orders _knowing_ that you could defend yourself. I know how you handled yourself during your encounter with the invaders from Venom yesterday; the fact of the matter is that your emotions got out of hand, and I'm sure it has something to do with the nightmares you've been having recently."

Krystal's heart skipped a beat. "What do you know of my nightmares? What could they possibly have to do with how I reacted today?" The knowledge that her dreams were no longer a secret filled Krystal with fear. What if something was wrong with her? What would her father think about the visions that tormented her every night?

"I am a telepath, just like you," the king reminded her, the tone of his voice shifting from disappointment to concern for his daughter. "Some nights I am kept awake with the thoughts of many Cerinians troubling my mind. Yours have disturbed me most recently; I know that something dark and mysterious haunts you at night, and of the visions you've seen. Turmoil, pain, the suffering of our kind is coming."

"Then surely you must have answers," Krystal pleaded as her eyes began to water with tears. "Surely you must know who or what this presence is? I can't escape its crimson gaze; it even follows me into the waking world. And Cerinia, our planet… does this have something to do with the Venomian invasion?"

The king's reply was simply to step toward his daughter and embrace her, wrapping her in his loving arms and pulling her to his chest. He let out a deep sigh, his mind betraying that he was just as short of answers as she was. "I don't know," he confessed. "For now, the best we can do is monitor the workings of your mind. Your telepathic powers have developed so rapidly, almost unnaturally so. Maybe this has something to do with your nightmares, but I can't say anything for sure yet."

"What of the visions, and the armies of Venom?" Krystal wiped her eyes and looked into her fathers', searching for comfort and hope even more so than answers.

The king released his grip, assuming a firm demeanor once again as the planet's leader. "War will likely come to Cerinia, whether we want it to or not," he replied, grimly. "If the armies of Venom are allowed to grow and spread, our enemy will soon become unstoppable. We may need to engage them ourselves to prevent this from happening… Right now, we need to find out why they are _here_ of all places, and what they want from Cerinia."

Before Krystal could say anything in reply, her father continued, changing the subject. "Right now, what matters is your training," the king murmured, switching focus. "We will deal with the armies of Venom when the time comes. You will need your mental powers at full strength if you are to carry the weight of this world on your shoulders."

"What do you mean?" Krystal probed, sensing a sudden barrier over the thoughts of her father. She seemed to encounter a strange fog hovering over him when she tried to read his mind, as if there was something he didn't want her to know.

The king closed his eyes and shook his head. "It's nothing, for now. You will learn when the time comes… now I will show you another useful application for your inherited gift of telepathy. The link between your mind and that of another is not a one-way track; not only can you receive incoming information from others, but you can also project your thoughts back to them."

Krystal placed her hands on her hips, suddenly more curious and intent to learn more. "So that is how I have been able to sense some of your thoughts? You don't just think them for me to read, but also cast thoughts into my mind?"

"Yes," the King of Cerinia nodded. "This power has quite many uses. With time and training, you will be able to project thoughts, feelings, even memories, into the minds of those around you. The mind is a complex tool; it can be made to bend to the will of a telepath if he or she wishes. Sometimes it just takes some… creativity, and imagination to achieve a telepath's full potential."

"Great, how do I get started?" Krystal felt more energetic and optimistic than she had all day. The cares and concerns of the world around her started to slip away as she immersed herself in the here and now with her father.

 _Enter into the plane of mental space_ , the young vixen sensed her father's thoughts enter her mind. _Focus on my mind alone, as you did yesterday. Create a link forming our thought patterns together_.

Krystal obeyed, closing her eyes and focusing only on the mental and letting the physical world around her fill the background of her concentration.

 _Good,_ the king's mental voice sounded again. _Now create your thoughts, imagine projecting them along the link you have formed with my mind. If you succeed, I will be able to hear you without searching your mind myself._

Krystal meditated silently, imagining a memory that she would project into her father's mind. _Yes, this one_ , her heart warmed as she formed a precious moment in her thoughts and cast it forward with a jolt. Opening her eyes, she found that her father had closed his eyes as well, smiling lightly without speaking. "Well, did it work?" she asked, working her telepathy to scan his mind as she was more accustomed to.

The king nodded, eyes remaining closed. "A memory of us at the beach, when your mother and I took you to see the ocean on our eastern shores. This was so long ago, you were only a small child," he reflected, experiencing the memory as if living it there and then. Curious at her choice, he asked, "what made you choose this?"

"You already know why," Krystal could sense that he had already read her thoughts and knew the reason for her choice. "This memory was one of the first to come to my mind. Something calm, and peaceful. Far from all the worries and fears, when all that existed in the universe was our planet, this village, our family…"

Opening his eyes, her father gave her a solemn nod in agreement. "Those were simpler days than those we face now," he acknowledged. "No matter what happens, Krystal," he urged, staring deeply into his daughter's eyes, "always hold on to these precious times. They give us something to live and die for, a purpose and reason to keep fighting."

Though these words inspired Krystal, they also sent shivers running down her spine. Why was her father suddenly speaking in a way that was so deep and philosophical? In the warmth of the Cerinian sun, the young vixen couldn't keep from feeling almost chilled to the core. _What aren't you telling me?_

"Projection into the minds of others will come to you more effortlessly with time and practice, just as your ability to maintain control of thought patterns and mental images became easier yesterday," Krystal's father continued, either ignoring her mental question or not hearing it entirely. "There is one more useful skill that I want to show you today. Then maybe you can spend some time alone practicing these things for yourself."

Krystal blinked, trying to shake her feeling of apprehension as she listened patiently to her father's words. _Whatever it is, surely it bodes ill for us all… You aren't always like this, Father…_ The she-fox could start to feel her stomach tightening and knotting up, twisting like a snake inside her as she forced to calm herself down.

"I might have said something yesterday about the 'mind's eye,' how telepathy can be used as a means to 'see' and 'sense' the world around you." Krystal's silence caused the king to second guess himself as he quickly added, "well, maybe I did, maybe I didn't… anyway," he chuckled, loosening his stature slightly, "as a telepath, your 'mind's eye' is not restricted to the immediate world around you, as you have surely discovered already."

Krystal nodded in response. Clearly, he was remarking on how she was able to navigate through the southern forest and locate the Venomian army's position in the woods.

"Your mind can do more than simply scan nearby areas," the king informed her. "You are also capable of casting your mind out to far away locations, far exceeding that of any of your other senses. Begin by concentrating on the plane of mental space around us," he instructed," then widen your gaze so that you can sense the entire courtyard and village surrounding us."

Krystal did as she was told, first focusing her mind on the thought patterns of her father and herself. Accustomed to this, she concentrated on expanding her mind's sight. At first, it seemed that nothing at all was happening; only their two mental images were visible.

"Just breathe," the voice of her father penetrated Krystal's ears and mind. "What else do you feel?"

The young she-fox did not respond immediately. Straining to widen her gaze, Krystal suddenly felt another mental trace. It was that of one of the Cerinian guards, patrolling the palace courtyard nearby. Then she felt another presence, and another, and another, until the thought patterns of dozens of Cerinians occupied her mind. Each thought that she sensed gave with it a physical location, revealing a mental map of the surrounding area.

"Well done, my daughter," the King of Cerinia praised. "This is another skill that can be improved, until you can see for miles and miles with your mind's eye. You achieved something similar yesterday, but this new way of perception is far more precise, giving exact details and locations of those nearby and even far away-" The words of the king were cut short, and immediately Krystal realized why.

"I sense it too," the vixen relaxed her telepathic focus and returned to the world around her. Without another word, she found herself sprinting outside of the palace courtyard and toward the enormous stone wall surrounding the village.

Krystal's father raced out of the village, taking a sharp right turn as he headed for the village's western border with Krystal hard on his heels. "So you cast your mind that far?" The king mused, seeming again impressed with Krystal's mental prowess. Giving no time for an answer, he continued, "I sense activity occurring along our western border. I should have noticed it sooner…"

"I'm sorry I distracted you, Father," Krystal apologized between breaths as she darted beside him. "If you weren't so busy training me-"

She was cut off by a swift glance from the king. "There is nothing more important than training you right now… besides, this is hopefully just a border skirmish. I'm just surprised the enemy from Venom is bold enough to follow our soldiers so far from their camps deeper in the forest."

Krystal nodded in agreement, sensing that they were approaching their destination as she detected the mental images of many Venomians, mixed with the thoughts of a Cerinian patrol as they battled to escape from their enemies at the edge of the western woods. Krystal tensed when, among her allies, she sensed the thoughts of Atticus, Savannah, and Fero. The three found themselves with the rest of their patrol being pursued by a vast multitude of Venomian forces. Judging from their mental activity, they had reached the forest's edge. They must have been heavily outnumbered and outmatched; Krystal could feel their fear and panic emitting toward her in waves.

As the edge of the forest began to appear, the king addressed his daughter seriously. "From here on, this fight is real. Unlike in training, show these invaders no mercy, for you shall also receive none. I'm sending a distress signal to the Captain of the Guard, but until then we must provide whatever aid we can to our warriors."

Krystal nodded in acknowledgment without saying a word. She wished that they could have gathered reinforcements before arriving to her friends' aid, but she could tell from her father's haste that there simply wasn't the time. Apprehension began to gnaw at her heart, the truth of her reality slowly sinking in; she and her planet were now at war.

A battlefield began to make itself clear on the horizon, stretching out across the landscape as it transitioned from open fields to the beginning of the forest beyond. Krystal could scarcely make out the shapes of Atticus, Savannah, and Fero, along with several other guards as they held their ground outside the edge of the forest. Dozens of laser beams flashed from outside the thickening trees, aimed for the Cerinian warriors as they took cover behind several trees and hills that rose slightly above the rest of the plane. The natives were trapped, unable to make a move among the endless barrage of laser fire streaming towards them.

The King of Cerinia reached into his holster and drew his magical staff, extending it from half to full length with his mind's command.

Krystal followed his lead as they approached the ongoing battle, gripping her laser sword in one hand while activating its glowing yellow blade with the other.

"Don't worry Krystal," her father tensed as he prepared to enter the fray. "Whatever happens, I will follow you in combat with my mind and be ready to aid you whenever you need."

As Krystal and her father reached the Cerinian warriors, she took shelter with Savannah and Fero behind a wide tree trunk, while the king crouched beneath a rising hill to debrief with Atticus. The Cerinian patrol exchanged surprised and grateful looks at the arrival of reinforcements.

"Thank goodness you're here," Savannah breathed as she lowered her bow and docked her next arrow. "We are really pinned down; I didn't think help would come in time, are there any others?" She asked with a glance at the two new arrivals.

Krystal shook her head. "For now, just the two of us." Before Savannah could voice her disappointment, she added, "Father sent out a signal to Sera's father and the rest of the guard; help will come, but we need to hold on a little longer."

"Oh, great, just a _little_ longer," Fero rolled his raccoon's masked eyes. "There's more of them in there than you think! We can't last a _little_ longer."

The King of Cerinia waved his arm in a motion to silence his warriors. "Enough! Atticus, status report, now!" From a distance, the king's voice was nearly drowned out by the flashing of lasers past their cover.

"Our patrol was ambushed deeper in the forest and we lost several members," the feline reported. "It seems the armies of Venom are spreading, surrounding the village on all sides. None of the bordering forest is safe. The enemy consists of many foot soldiers, but something followed… a massive war machine rumbled through the woods behind them, crushing trees beneath its treads as we engaged the hostiles. We were forced to evacuate before we were run down."

Krystal's father hesitated for a moment, addressing the situation and deciding a course of action. "If we don't push the armies of Venom back now, I fear the worst for our village. The enemy will press onward, claiming all of our home as we know it." He glanced at his few warriors, knowing how much he was asking of them. "Do we have the strength to launch a counterattack?"

"I'm in, I can't stand all this sitting and hiding!" Fero was the first to give his support.

Krystal nodded, "we will follow our king. With you at our front, we will be strong." Even though the odds seemed against them, the vixen felt comforted following her father into battle. Though her planet had been peaceful for years, she had heard stories of how courageous her father had been in the past, wielding the magical staff of the royal Cerinian bloodline like a shield protecting their village.

The remaining Cerinian warriors shouted and voiced their eagerness to battle. It seemed that the entire company was behind their king, waiting for his signal to return fire and engage the forces of Venom.

"I'll create an opening," the king warned, "then we will face them head on. Bring the fight out to the open, draw out their gunners so we can fight them without their cover. Protect each other, remember they have the numbers until reinforcements arrive."

Without another word, the king stood up from behind his cover and the staff in his hands began to glow. As its magical energy channeled, green light emitted from its thin frame and a sphere of red flame formed at its tip. The fire grew in size, expanding to the point where Krystal could feel the heat at the tip of her fur as her father tossed his arm back and hurled the massive ball of fire forward.

"That's the power of our king," Savannah awed as the fireball sliced through the air, gaining speed and size as it hurtled toward the trees ahead. The multitude of lasers shooting out from the forest ceased as the Venomian soldiers panicked to find cover. In seconds, the flaming sphere crashed into the outer layer of trees, exploding with a roar and setting the outer woods ablaze.

"Attack!" Krystal's father commanded as he led the charge, racing toward the forest as the Venomian soldiers recovered from the impact.

Krystal and Savannah darted out from behind the tree, followed closely by Fero, Atticus, and the remaining Cerinian warriors as they rallied to their king. Krystal raised her laser sword and followed its glimmering yellow blade as Savannah raised her bow, firing into the horde of Venomians streaming from the edge of the forest.

Laser beams began to stream from the enemy lines once again, flashing past the Cerinians as they charged forward. "Get behind me!" Krystal called to her friends, deflecting an incoming round with her laser sword. Savannah, Atticus, and Fero formed up behind her as she caught up with her father. Another laser beam met Krystal head on, who with a furious slash of her sword, reflected it back toward the incoming Venomian army.

The two forces began to close their distance from each other, but the Cerinians were far out-ranged. Savannah fired another arrow into the crowd of enemies and loaded another arrow as lasers continued to fly by, barely missing the native warriors as they raced onward.

"Watch this," Krystal's father called out from beside her as he raised his staff, shining a white veil of light before them. The clear barrier expanded as they ran on, surrounding the entire Cerinian patrol and engulfing them in magical energy.

Krystal watched in amazement as the plasmatic rounds fired from the Venomian soldiers fazed right through the magical barricade, rendering she and her allies unharmed. "What power is this? You are truly amazing!"

The king cast a loving glance at his daughter, just as the waves of Venomians came into range. "This power will someday be yours," he answered. "This is our birthright; now, we fight to defend it!"

The first of the Venomian soldiers threw himself at Krystal, lunging with a glowing red laser sword. She retaliated with her own, sparks flying from the two weapons as they clashed. The lizard aimed a second slash across her torso, but she read this attack telepathically. Lowering herself to her knees and thrusting upward, she pierced her enemy's chest with her blade and withdrew it, allowing the lifeless body of her foe to fall before her.

A soft whistle sliced through the air past Krystal's ear as one of Savannah's arrows struck the next lizard, penetrating his armor and impaling into his shoulder. Before Krystal could take him down, the grey and black fur of Fero flashed past her vision as the racoon tore through him with his two kamas.

Krystal's telepathic powers spiked, sensing that several Venomian soldiers had taken aim. As they fired their weapons, the vixen readied her laser sword and aimed for the target of each shooter. In one fluent motion, her blade met the laser aimed for her head, then her waist, then her torso, reflecting each round back into the waves of Venomians. The vixen's blood began pumping in her veins as her adrenaline levels rose. This was her first real battle; she felt both terrified and filled with the thrill of combat at once.

Rushing forward into enemy lines, Krystal deflected several plasma rounds on each side. Her blade clashed with that of another Venomian soldier as she rotated to block his incoming attack, grabbing him by the arm and flipping him over her shoulder with his own momentum. The counterattack left the lizard stunned and rendered him useless, so Krystal moved on.

 _This is my home_ , Krystal thought as she pushed onward, _and I will fight to protect it!_ Suddenly realizing that she was surrounded by enemies on all sides, she raised her weapon to strike when a new figure dropped down in front of her, clearing the entire wave in a flash. The fox turned around, greeting Krystal with a slight grin. It was her father who had come to her aid, giving her a small nod of acknowledgment before thrusting his staff into the ground. As its magical energy channeled, the king was propelled back upward like a rocket shooting into the sky.

 _Thanks, Father,_ Krystal voiced with her mind. Knowing that her father would pick up her gratitude, the vixen stopped to observe the battlefield and decide if any of her allies needed aid. The small Cerinian patrol fought quite impressively, making ten warriors feel more like one hundred as they battled with all they had. Even still, the Venomian invaders were beginning to close in around them, flanking on all sides and forming a ring in an attempt to crush them in one blow.

 _Savannah!_ With a jolt, Krystal sensed her friend's distress; the feline found herself at close range with her attackers, unable to gain distance as she desperately fired each arrow from her bow. _Hang on, I'm coming!_ Ignoring many of the Venomians along her path, the she-fox leaped over the falling body of a lizard and hit the ground running. Just before an ape could strike Savannah, Krystal launched herself off a nearby rock and threw her body backward in a backflip kick, knocking her enemy to the ground and landing neatly on all fours.

"Wow, thanks," Savannah was nearly speechless. Before Krystal could respond, the tabby feline drew another arrow from her quiver and fired. The projectile soared rapidly past Krystal, meeting it mark as it clipped a lizard and knocked him on his back.

"I guess that makes us even," the vixen stared down at her attacker in surprise. Several laser rounds flashed by in rapid succession and Krystal drew her laser sword, parrying each shot closely before they could hit their target. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of her father again, combatting many enemies at once.

The king's combat skills caught his daughter off guard, even after training with him for her whole life. She had never seen him fight in real combat before, calculating each maneuver with his weapon and body carefully and precisely. It felt as though he was battling his enemies in slow motion, needing no time at all to predict each warrior's moves before every swift counter. Just when Krystal thought a lizard had him from behind, her father's staff began to glow, emitting an icy blue beam from its tip. As the Venomian felt its biting chill, his body was frozen on the spot and encased in a block of ice. The king then smashed the icy slab with a single pound of his open palm, forcefully shattering it into dozens frozen projectiles.

Krystal shook her head back and forth in an effort to retrieve her focus from her father and return it to the rest of the battle. Her father could take care of himself; her focus needed to be on helping her friends and allies. Suddenly a sharp mental trace formed itself behind Krystal as an enemy soldier aimed to strike while she appeared to be caught off guard. Little did the Venomian know that his foe was far from it.

Deactivating her laser sword, Krystal pressed the button on its hilt before throwing her elbow backward into the face of the ape. Bewildered at the vixen's speed and reaction, the Venomian soldier threw a punch for her head. Reading this move telepathically before it was made, Krystal shifted her weight sideways and dodged the attack, leaning into her enemy and reactivating her weapon. The yellow blade of energy pierced through the ape's chest as it emerged from its hilt, causing him to shriek in astonishment as blood sprayed from the wound.

Krystal narrowed her eyes and glared into the stunned expression of her attacker as his body collapsed to the ground. As the soldier's lifeless body lay in the thin grass, she almost began to feel remorse for what she had done in taking the life of another so effortlessly. _These invaders have come to our home planet bringing this war and destruction with them_ ¸ she reminded herself. _Show them no mercy, for you shall also receive none_ , her father's words echoed in her mind. This was war; there was no room here for hesitation nor doubt.

A slicing pain ran through Krystal's mind, quickly distinguishing it as someone else's rather than her own. She was alone with her thoughts, still staring over the warrior she had just slain in her own self-defense when she detected that one of her allies had been wounded. Searching the thoughts of her comrades with her mind, the vixen froze when she stopped on the thoughts of Atticus. Wherever he was, he was in trouble!

Without a moment to spare, Krystal raced from her position near the middle of the battleground, urgently searching for Atticus as she followed his thought patterns. He must have been near the outskirts of the fight, judging from the location of his thoughts, but when Krystal focused harder she realized there was another presence along with his. This second mental trace was unlike any the vixen had ever felt before, shrouded in darkness and hatred to the point that she could hardly detect any individual thoughts at all. It was nothing like any of the minds of the Cerinians she had touched with her telepathic powers.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" The words of Atticus found their way into Krystal's ears as she neared him, gasping in shock at the scene before her.

The feline Cerinian warrior stood lowered on one knee, hunched over gasping for breath as blood clung to his body armor. One hand grasped his chest while the other stretched toward the ground, planted firmly in the grass to hold the rest of his weak frame from collapsing. As Krystal shifted her angle on him, she could make out a gaping hole carved through to his back, surely burned through by the blade of an energy sword. Blood spattered from his lips as he coughed out his next words.

"Why have you brought this war and ruin to Cerinia? What do you possibly hope to achieve through all this bloodshed?"

Krystal followed her injured friend's gaze upward to his foe, a dark-furred fox wearing a black flight-suit equipped with additional armored plating. The soldier was covered in firearms from his durable metallic boots to the helmet and visor shielding his eyes; some strapped to a belt on his waist while others were kept in pockets lining his pants and outer jacket. Of all the Venomian warriors Krystal had seen, this one appeared to be of a higher rank, something of a general she would have guessed. A younger general at that, seeming to be only five or so years beyond Atticus himself.

"Your planet holds something we desire," the fox simply replied, speaking each word with a malicious edge to it. He spread his arms in admiration, clearly taking great pleasure in the battle waging around him. "Our coming to this planet, this war… every inch of progress we make brings us one step closer to our final goal." Krystal caught a glimpse at the weapon in his hands, a red-bladed energy sword similar to the one she carried.

"Stop this!" Krystal finally forced her way in between the fox and the feline, unable to listen anymore. "I won't let you hurt my friend!" Raising her energy sword, she challenged her enemy to make another move. _This must be the one who injured Atticus, and the one whose thought patterns I sensed before…_ Krystal reflected. _He must be strong if he could defeat Atticus, especially without a scratch on him_. Looking her foe up and down, the fox appeared to be essentially unharmed.

The Venomian general tilted his head as his mouth formed a deceitful grin. "Well, what do we have here?" Lowering his weapon, he gave little time for a response. "Step aside, little girl, so I can finish this one off. I promise I won't prolong his suffering, and I'll even dispose of you quickly as well."

"You never answered his first question," Krystal retaliated, hoping to stall for time. _Come on, Sera, where are you?_ "Who are you? What does Venom want with us?"

The fox tilted his head back with a laugh. "You know what? Normally I don't take time to answer to my prey, but I think this time I'll humor you a bit."

Without warning, a sudden gust of wind swept over Krystal and she found herself staring face to face with the other fox. _He reacts so quickly, just as I can start to detect his thoughts he has already begun to act on them!_ Krystal's heart began to throb in her chest and she started to panic as she faced this fearsome foe, eye to eye. _Father, help me!_

"My name," the dark fox growled with a snarl, "is Revan."


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 **Final Breath**

Krystal feinted backward, hardly raising her energy sword in time to counter Revan's first swing, aimed for her throat. Plasma sparked from the two weapons as they clashed and the two foxes held their ground, Revan forcing his blade closer as Krystal fought back. _He is so fast_ , Krystal reflected, fighting back shock as she realized how close she was to losing it all in that single moment. _Even through my telepathy I can barely read his moves!_

"Don't take this fight!" Atticus coughed from just inches behind her, still hunkered down in pain. "He's too strong for you. Regroup with the others, leave me!"

With these words, Revan leaned in closer to Krystal so his muzzle nearly reached the vixen's ear. "Maybe you should listen to him," the malicious fox growled. "Then at least I will only be killing only _one_ of you… for now."

"Never, I won't leave my friend here!" Refusing to listen anymore, Krystal gripped her weapon in both hands and thrusted outward with all her strength, forcing her enemy back. She took the initiative and prepared the next strike, leaping forward and lunging for Revan's shoulder. Focusing intently on his mind, Krystal engaged her telepathic senses attempting to read his next move.

Again, the fox from Venom was agile, lowering his red blade to meet hers and forcing her to step past him as he pivoted out of the way of her increased momentum. Raising his arm over his head, he lowered it behind him in a slash.

Krystal saw this attack coming, but could barely roll out of the way in time as the crimson blade hit the ground, burning a scar in the dirt on impact. Before she could even recover, her vision blurred as Revan's knee slammed into her cheek. Shaking her head to clear it, Krystal swept her leg sideways trying to catch him by surprise, but her attack was easily dodged with a jump.

Fortunately for her, Krystal's failed maneuver bought her enough time to get to her feet and back up, gaining some distance between herself and her opponent. But a grin from Revan revealed that he had other plans. _He_ wants _to take the fight at a longer range_ , Krystal sensed telepathically as he drew a short rifle from a holster on his hip and fired.

It took all of Krystal's power and concentration to focus on each round, predicting where Revan would aim next. Darting forward, she reflected the first plasma round from her energy sword and weaved between the second and third like a serpent. As she neared, a fourth shot was aimed for her forehead; with a twirl of her glimmering blade, she caught the beam mid-air and deflected it back towards its shooter.

The returning projectile struck Revan in the shoulder, burning into his armor and clothing as a hint of surprise formed on his face. Taking an advantage of this opportunity, Krystal threw a kick aimed for his chest. Finally feeling like she had the advantage in their fight, she was caught off guard when the dark fox dropped his weapons, catching her foot in his hands and twisting her sideways.

Krystal was thrown several paces away, rolling in the grass from the force of Revan's grip on her. Her energy sword was tossed from her grasp, landing out of reach as its yellow blade disappeared. Laying face-down on the ground, Krystal sensed her enemy's next move. _He's aiming for my back!_ The vixen thought as she rolled sideways, narrowly avoiding the sting of a plasma round as it impacted the grass beside her and sent dirt flying on impact.

Sensing another attempt to fire, Krystal rolled again until she felt the thin metallic hilt of her energy sword find its way into her hand. She quickly flipped onto her back and activated her weapon as the next projectile was fired from Revan's blaster, carefully positioning her blade so that the incoming round was deflected back at him. This time the return projectile met its source, striking Revan's blaster and corroding it with plasmatic energy.

The angered fox threw his firearm to the ground and retrieved his energy sword as Krystal leaped to her feet. Dashing towards her with lightning speed, his blade met hers as the two foxes traded rapid strikes with each other. Krystal met the onslaught of slashes and swipes from Revan's blade fiercely, blocking and countering swiftly with the help of her telepathic sight as he continued to push her backward, gaining momentum.

A sudden surge in strength caught the vixen off guard as a clash of her weapon caused her to lose her grip. Her energy sword twisted out of her grasp and her torso met the force of Revan's metallic boot as he kicked her backward. She was sent hurling through the air with the strength of the attack until her back met the ground, letting out a shriek as rock jutted into her lower spine. Slowly rolling away from the sharp stone, Krystal found herself winded and unable to breathe as Revan slowly paced toward her.

"Like I said, you're going to die here," the hateful fox murmured as he approached. The visor covering his eyes gave away nothing of his expression as he formed a cruel snarl. "I will kill you first, then your friend is next!"

Krystal stared upward in horror as Revan raised his laser sword to strike, desperately grasping for her weapon that had fallen out of her reach. When she touched her hand to the ground in an attempt to pull herself closer, the dark fox above her thrusted his boot onto her hand. Krystal cried out in agony as cold steel crushed her fingers, unable to move under Revan's weight.

"You are just a pest, a nuisance that I must eliminate to succeed with my plans. Now, you die!"

As Revan's crimson blade fell, Krystal sensed the thoughts of Atticus. Turning her head, her eyes widened as the wounded warrior rushed toward her. The feline hurried with a limp in his step, drawing his talwar in her defense as he aimed to counter Revan's fatal blow.

Helpless to come to his aid, Krystal could do nothing but watch as Revan deactivated his blade, allowing Atticus' sword to swing past him. Once the hilt of his laser sword was at chest level with Atticus, the evil fox reactivated his weapon and its glimmering red blade extended through the feline's chest. Blood sprayed from Atticus' back as the laser sword pierced his body and he jerked sharply as Revan forced his blade out.

The world seemed to come to a stop, and Krystal could not even hear herself scream as all feeling in her body went numb. As her friend collapsed, she wrenched her hand from Revan's grip and caught him, cradling him in her arms as she fell to her knees, weeping. Tears streamed from her eyes as they met Atticus' and the vixen was breathless with shock. "Atticus… Atticus, stay with me! You're going to be ok… I'm here, I promise you will make it through this!"

"It's… alright," the feline coughed up blood between words as he spoke. "This is my time… to go." Slowly, he reached for Krystal's hand and pulled it to his chest. Blood welled from his wounds and coated her fur, but she was indifferent to it. All that mattered was being there for her friend in his final moments.

"Oh, Atticus," Krystal sobbed, "you are too brave… you didn't need to do this." Guilt weighed heavily on the vixen's heart; if she had been stronger, Atticus might not have needed to sacrifice himself for her. She fought to defend him, but in the end he threw himself into harm's way for her instead.

The feline closed his eyes and shook his head. "No, this had to be done," he whispered as he opened them again. "You must live on… be the light and hope for Cerinia." Another cough spattered blood onto the grass beside him as blood from his wounds continued to coat the ground. "Look after my sister," the feline breathed his last words as the light gradually faded from his eyes and his body went limp in Krystal's arms.

"Atticus…" The vixen whimpered, weaving one hand through his dark hair while continuing to cradle his head with the other. "No! Come back, please! Atticus!" Suddenly Krystal burst into tears, pulling the lifeless body of her dear friend to her chest as tears streamed down her face.

"I guess the fool wanted his turn first," Revan's malicious voice interrupted her grieving. "His sacrifice will soon be in vain."

Wiping her tears away, Krystal raised her eyes and locked with those of her foe; the dark-furred fox took a pace backward, caught off guard by the fury and rage burning in her gaze. Lowering her friend's head and closing his eyes, the vixen raised herself to stand eye to eye with her enemy. "Atticus' death will _not_ go for nothing!" Wiping the tears from her eyes, Krystal flexed her injured hand and took a deep breath, focusing both body and mind. _You will pay for what you've done here!_

"Let's see about that!" Revan drew a pistol from his waist and fired, taking only a fraction of a second to raise his weapon and aim simultaneously.

Krystal honed in on his mental trace, realizing that he would shoot just a second before he did, barely rolling out of harm's way in time. Reaching for her laser sword, she twirled and deflected the second shot before it could reach her.

Revan darted forward, firing several additional blaster rounds as he quickly closed the gap between them.

Anger surged through Krystal's veins, fueling her to move and fight more quickly and aggressively than before. Though her strength began to reach its limit just minutes ago, the death of her friend pushed her onward, allowing her to predict and dodge each blaster round with a nimble shift of her body.

As Revan reached striking range, the vixen carefully weaved her laser sword past his defense so that she could slice the blaster from his grip. The firearm was sliced in two pieces by the heat of the blade, each thrown from Revan's hand and left to fall onto the ground.

Angered, the Venomian commander grasped his laser sword in two hands and swung at Krystal furiously. Using his own momentum, she let her blade clash with his as she spun and aimed a lunge for his chest. Revan grabbed her arm, forcing her attack out of line as he thrust his skull into hers with a headbutt.

Pain seared through Krystal's forehead as Revan's helmet cracked against it. Her vision blurred and she closed her eyes, relying only on her sixth sense as her guide; sensing that Revan would throw a punch for her face, the vixen shifted her weight sideways and let his arm fly past her. Dropping her laser sword, she grabbed for his forearm and threw her open palm into the back of his elbow, popping the bone out of place with a snap.

Revan staggered backward as Krystal regained her sight, blood trickling down her forehead as she leaped and threw a kick that sent him flying backward several feet. As she retrieved her laser sword, the Venomian took a moment to fix his dislocated elbow by forcing it back into place with a howl.

Krystal took this opportunity to take the offensive, racing toward Revan with her laser sword prepped to strike. As she neared striking distance, she sensed his thought patterns and clearly detected his reaction to counter. _Every movement comes from a conscious decision to act_ , her father's training echoed in her mind. Her increased adrenaline and rage seemed to work for her, breaking through the fog surrounding Revan's mind so that his thoughts became clear.

 _He plans to counter my attack; let's see if he can counter what he can't see!_ Instead of lowering her blade to strike as she appeared to, the she-fox suddenly lowered herself to the ground, sliding underneath and throwing a kick backward at the unexpecting fox.

Caught completely off guard, Revan was knocked forward and thrown to the ground. Shaking off grass and dirt, the Venomian turned and faced Krystal, this time with a crack running down his helmet.

 _His previous headbutt must have_ _caused a minor wound in his armor; now it's completely broken_ , Krystal reflected as Revan lifted the helmet off his head and tossed it into the grass beside him. The damaged armor and visor rolled several times before stopping just beside the lifeless body of Atticus. As Krystal stared into Revan's eyes for the first time, she could see the same anger and fury that emitted from his thoughts reflected in his gaze.

As the battle around them waged on, the two foxes faced each other down in silence for several moments. "You know this fight is pointless, right?" Revan grinned, lowering his laser sword. "Take a look around you; your friends are heavily outnumbered and outmatched, and this is only a small taste of the devastation the armies of Venom will bring."

Krystal hesitated, but slowly lowered her guard as she took a moment to glance at her father, fighting for his life with all his strength to defend what few Cerinian warriors remained against the Venomians. The power of his magical staff was the only thing keeping the enemy forces at bay as they desperately awaited reinforcements. _Father, keep them safe just a little longer…_ Krystal sent a signal telepathically, _Sera and the others should arrive any time now._ Turning her attention back to Revan, she tried her best to stall for time.

"You won't get away with this," the vixen challenged, raising her energy sword and assuming a defensive stance. "You will pay for invading our home, and for what you did to Atticus!"

Revan's reply was only to laugh. "Do you _honestly_ believe you can stand against me? If you thought this was our true strength, you're gravely mistaken! We'll see who is paying after this!" Raising his laser sword in his right arm, the fox unleashed a terrifying howl as he cast it forward in a battle charge.

Suddenly out of the woods behind him, a massive war machine burst from out of the thickness of the trees. The enormous armored vehicle tore across the ground on a pair of treads, ripping through the earth and uprooting trees as it emerged from the out of the forest. A single turret protruded from the tank's armored frame, aiming for the Cerinian warriors as they combatted the remaining Venomian foot soldiers.

Krystal gasped and her heart skipped a beat. Focusing her thoughts and linking them with her father, she sent him another signal telepathically. _Be careful! This must be the tank Atticus and his squad had encountered during their patrol. Let me help you, you can't defend our warriors and destroy it on your own!_

 _No Krystal, leave this to me for now_ , the king replied. _I've heard word from the captain of the guard and our reinforcements are nearly here. We can catch them in a counterattack, but I need you where you are. I believe in you; don't let their leader near the rest of the battle, where he can have the largest impact. Keep his attention fixed on you._

Wanting to turn and help her friends, Krystal nodded to herself, realizing that her father was right. A diversion was surely their best hope of enduring long enough for reingorcements to arrive. Returning her attention back to Revan, she allowed the Venomian tank to enter the battlefield without answering it. "It is _you_ that is mistaken," the vixen replied to his threat. "You underestimate the strength of Cerinia!"

With a growl, Revan leaped forward and aimed a swipe with his laser sword.

Krystal matched him as she threw herself forward and their weapons clashed, sending sparks bursting through the air as the heat and energy of their blades met. Both foxes were pushed backward with the force of the impact, but Krystal immediately followed with a lunge for Revan's exposed chest.

The Venomian commander brushed her blade aside with his, letting her pass by and grabbing her by the arm. With a twist, the dark-furred fox swung his laser sword downward towards her back.

Retaliating by raising her weapon to shield her backside, Krystal's telepathy revealed Revan's attack before he could even make it. Just as their blades clashed once again, a sudden figure flashed by and knocked Revan sideways. As the fox's body was tossed into the dirt and rolled several times, a gust of wind caused Krystal to shield her eyes.

When she opened them and blinked, she realized that the newcomer was none other than Sera. The crimson vixen gave her a confident grin as she entered the fray, drawing her rapier from the sheath at her waist. A glance behind her revealed that she was not alone; she and her father had brought an entire host of Cerinian warriors, an army of dozens to combat the Venomian patrol that had pushed outside the forest boundary.

"About time you showed up," Krystal breathed a sigh of relief at the arrival of reinforcements. She relaxed her posture slightly, pacing toward her friend as they turned to face Revan together. Their enemy had recovered from the kick that took him by surprise, glaring at the incoming Cerinian forces as they swarmed the battlefield.

"I couldn't leave all the fun to you, Sis," Sera replied, keeping her eyes fixed on her new enemy. "It looks like you could use a hand."

"Don't let your guard down," Krystal cautioned, urging her friend to take matters more seriously. Especially after what happened to Atticus, she couldn't bear the thought of watching another friend get hurt, especially if it was Sera. A feeling of despair clung to the back of her mind, and she had to fight desperately to prevent it from surfacing. _I'm not sure if any of the others know about Atticus yet… Maybe Father, if he was keeping an eye on me with his mind… but what am I going to tell Sera? What about Fero, and Savannah... she will be absolutely devastated._

Suddenly Krystal found herself fighting back rage. Reflecting on what Revan had done to Atticus seemed to trigger something inside her, a deep and intense desire for revenge. A shroud of darkness hovered over her mind, and she sensed an eerily familiar presence within her. _This feels just like before, during training!_ Krystal recalled how she had lost control and wounded the guard during her battle practice just hours before.

A pulsing sensation in her heart and brain forced the blue-furred vixen to collapse to her knees, dropping her weapon to clench her head in her palms as she shut her eyes in agony. _Revan must pay for killing Atticus! He took the life of my friend, and I will take his own in return!_ Krystal's own enraged thoughts came so willingly and naturally, yet they also filled her with fear. How could she possibly think such sinister things, even after what Revan had done? This just wasn't like her.

"Krystal, are you alright?" Sera gasped in shock, still hardly willing to take her focus off their enemy. "What's going on?"

Opening her eyes, Krystal was met with expressions of bewilderment from both Sera and Revan. Sera's concern for her was clear, but why did her enemy appear as if he had just seen a ghost? Revan's eyes opened wide with shock and he took a step backward away from her as he stuttered, "it's… _you_."

Confused and distraught, Krystal desperately searched her enemy's mind trying to determine why he acted so strangely all of a sudden. Still, a lingering fog clung to the fox's mind and she found it difficult to interpret his thoughts and feelings. All she could tell was that something seemed terrifyingly familiar to him. As Krystal linked her mind with his, the fragile connection revealed that when he looked into her eyes, he saw two blood-red irises staring back at him.

Krystal gasped and nearly collapsed in terror. Again, she sensed the strange link between her altered attitude and the change in her eyes. Blinking rapidly and willing that they return to normal, she addressed her friend by lying, "It's nothing, I'm fine."

Raising herself precariously to her feet, the blue vixen took deep and steady breaths trying to calm herself down. _This isn't right, Atticus wouldn't want me to be like this. Protecting and defending my allies; that's what he would have wanted. That's what he gave his life to do._ Another calm exhale brought Krystal back to her senses, just in time to realize that another Venomian soldier had joined Revan. She braced herself for combat, but the lizard's words came as quite a surprise.

"Commander Revan, our troops are heavily outnumbered. We did not come prepared for a full-scale encounter, and even our tank is compromised. Their leader wields a powerful magical force; with him at the head of their army, our limited forces stand no chance. We have been forced to take full retreat," the Venomian reported. He cast a wary gaze at Krystal and Savannah, but chose to ignore them as he awaited orders.

The dark fox hesitated, still somewhat caught off guard as he resisted the urge to gaze deeper into Krystal's eyes. "Fine, give the order. We will regroup and form our next plan of attack," Revan murmured resentfully. With another glance at Krystal, he growled, "don't you think that you have seen the last of me. This is _far_ from over!" With his last words, he turned and followed his soldier as they began to retreat.

"Wait, I'm not finished with you yet!" Krystal felt her strength returning as she broke into a run, chasing after her enemy. "You can't just come here and expect for me to let you get away!"

Her words were silenced as Revan turned and hurled his laser sword straight for her. As the crimson blade of energy neared, Krystal raised her sword to retaliate and deflected it upward into the air. The weapon spun several times as it fell, landing just inches beside her as it hit the ground and its glimmering blade deactivated. When Krystal turned to look back at Revan, he had completely vanished.

"What? Where'd he go?" The blue-furred vixen cast her gaze across the battlefield in both directions without seeing as much as a trace of the fox she had just battled with so furiously.

Sera paced toward her, looking just as astonished. "I'm not sure," she murmured, stopping beside the weapon Revan left behind. Stooping down to pick up the metal rod, Sera turned it in her hands before pressing the button on its side, igniting its crimson blade of energy and giving it a twirl. "I'll take this as a consolation prize, anyway," she joked half-heartedly as she looked onward at the battle around them. Breathing a sigh, she deactivated her newfound weapon and strapped it to her belt. "It seems like we made it just in time."

Krystal watched as her allies swarmed the fleeing Venomian ranks, chasing them back into the forests from which they came. Even the massive Venomian tank, which had initially pinned down her father and the few warriors he had, was defeated as Cerinian warriors swarmed it from all sides. After having its single cannon frozen solid and rendered useless, the lizards and apes manning the war machine had abandoned it. One by one, the enemy forces became fewer and fewer, until Cerinian warriors were the only ones inhabiting the village's outer perimeter.

"What was that back there, anyway?" Sera's sudden question interrupted Krystal from her thoughts. Her expression and tone betrayed her concern as she added, "that fox you were fighting… he said something strange, as if he recognized you from somewhere."

Still puzzled at Revan's words, Krystal didn't know what to say. "His name is Revan. I think he is a Venomian commander, someone of a higher rank in their military."

"Do you know him?"

Shaking her head and sighing, Krystal was just as confused as Sera. "I don't think so… How could that even be possible? I've never seen him before in my life."

Sera took a step closer, facing her eye to eye as she probed, "could it have something to do with your eyes? I saw what happened, how they… changed…"

Krystal shifted backward uneasily. She bit her lip nervously, unsure of how much she should tell her best friend. Even though they had been like sisters since they were kids, she still hesitated to tell Sera the truth. _I guess she has seen enough already, there's no going back from here…_

"It's happened more than once today. I think it has something to do with the nightmares I've been having recently. Whenever I feel angry, or upset, something just…" Krystal paused, shivering as she spoke the words, "takes control. There is some kind of overpowering rage inside me, and my eyes seem to change to crimson red at each outburst."

"What triggered it this time?"

Immediately Krystal was overcome with guilt; she still hadn't told anyone about Atticus! How would they react once they knew what happened? Who already knew…?

Taking Sera by the arm, the vixen took her friend part-way across the battlefield to where Atticus' body lay. Thankfully, and to her surprise, she and Sera were the first to discover him after the fight had settled. The feline lay exactly where Krystal had left him; on his back, facing the sky with his eyes closed, motionless. Two gaping wounds tore through his chest, leaving the grass and dirt around him stained in his blood as it slowly poured from his wounds. Krystal could hardly even bear the sight; though she had been there and even witnessed his death, it was still almost impossible to believe that he was truly gone.

Sera's eyes widened in shock and she covered her mouth to prevent a scream. Eyes watering with tears, the she-fox shook her head back and forth. "No, no, no, no… this can't be…" Turning back to face Krystal, she knew the answer to her question before she even uttered the words, " _he_ did this, didn't he? Revan…"

Krystal nodded as her eyes began to water. "He gave his life to save mine," she nearly choked on her words as her heart was filled with grief and loss. "He was wounded, badly… but when I couldn't hold Revan any longer, he threw himself in the way regardless."

Suddenly, the young she-fox realized that she and Sera were no longer alone. Cerinian soldiers were beginning to notice Atticus' disappearance, flocking over as word spread of their comrade's death. It only took one soldier to begin the chain, and in a matter of seconds, guards were rushing over to mourn their loss.

"Atticus! Brother! Let me through, I need to see him!" The voice of Savannah cried out from among the crowd as she pushed and shoved her way to the front. When she first laid eyes on her deceased sibling, the feline fell to her knees and wept, wrapping her arms around his torso in anguish. "Please don't leave me!" Savannah wailed.

Krystal felt as if her heart would break, watching helplessly as the young feline grieved for her brother. _Is this what it's like, to lose a comrade? A friend? Someone you love, and hold so dear to your heart?_ The pain of losing her friend felt incomparable, but was surely nothing compared to what Savannah felt. Krystal had to concentrate to keep herself from probing into her friend's thoughts, knowing that she would be unprepared for the pain that she would surely find. She couldn't imagine the thought of losing someone so close to her at such a young age; what if it had been Sera, instead?

Through the gathering warriors, Fero stepped forward, bowing his head in sorrow and respect at the loss of his dear friend. He said nothing, but Krystal noticed a teardrop beginning to form in his eye as he sniffled, wiping it away before anyone else could notice.

A hand rested on Krystal's shoulder and she nearly lashed out, only to realize that it was her father who had come to comfort her.

"I'm sorry," the king whispered to his daughter. "If I could have been there, I would have, but…" regret echoed in his voice as he continued, "our few soldiers were so outnumbered, and so outmatched… I gave everything I had just to secure the survival of the others."

Krystal nodded slowly, unable to reply at the sight of sister morning brother in the middle of the circle of Cerinian warriors around them. But the more she analyzed her father's words, the more she came to a sudden realization. She herself was a telepath, just like her father. Though her skills were not as trained to be able to cast her mind across the battlefield, she knew what her father was capable of.

"So you knew?" the vixen growled in a low voice. "The moment it was about to happen… you knew, and still you did nothing."

The king narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on his child. He didn't reply until Krystal jerked her shoulder from out of his grasp and stormed away, leaving the body of Atticus and those who mourned him behind her.

Following, her father called out, "There wasn't any more that I could have done! Even if I could have sensed it telepathically, how was I supposed to get there without risking the lives of the entire patrol!"

Krystal spun around and glared as she sensed her inner rage surging beneath her fur. "But you _could_ sense it, and you knew what was going on; what he was about to do. You could have stopped him! He didn't have to die for nothing!"

"Listen to me!" the king roared, nearly matching her own fury. "Atticus didn't die for _nothing_ , he knew that as well as you and me!"

"Then what did he die for? I don't see anything that was gained from his sacrifice!"

"Well clearly you aren't looking hard enough! When I look at you, I know what he gave his life for! Atticus died so that you might be able to live on, to be the hope for Cerinia in these darkening times."

The king's words caused Krystal to freeze up. Her father used words similar to Atticus as he breathed his last. _You must live on, be the light and hope for Cerinia_ , the feline had whispered to her with his final breath. "Atticus said the same thing, before-" Krystal couldn't force herself to finish her sentence out loud, the grief of her friend's passing too near. "What did he mean, what do both of you mean by that? How am I supposed to do anything against the armies of Venom?"

"I sensed the force that came over you, just before Revan fled back into the woods. Combined with your dreams, these things bring an ancient prophecy to mind, but I can't be sure of anything just yet," the king admitted as he approached his daughter once more. His anger gradually faded into compassion and sorrow as he looked Krystal eye to eye. "Many questions are now arising, things that need time before they can be truly answered. But what matters right now is that we are there for Savannah, and the rest of our village, as we mourn the loss of Atticus."

Krystal turned her attention back to where her friends and allies were gathered, ashamed that she had allowed herself to feel anger toward her father. There was no changing the past, what had happened was now set in stone. Still, the vixen pondered at her father's discovery. _What could this ancient prophecy say? How does it apply to me? Does it tell of how we can stop the Venomian invasion before more lives are lost?_ Krystal's head began spinning with questions, but exhaustion weighed heavily on her, both physically and mentally, from her battle with Revan. Leaving her questions for the time being, she followed her father silently as they headed for the others.

"The armies of Venom have not been defeated, only pushed back temporarily," Krystal's father murmured as he led the way back. "They will return in greater numbers, launching a full-scale offensive after taking some time to regroup. I was able to collect some information by scanning the mind of their leader, the one you fought, but his mind was shrouded in darkness. Even I could not clearly detect his thoughts."

As the father and daughter returned to the body of Atticus, Cerinian soldiers began to depart for home one by one. The two foxes stood by Sera and Fero, looking down on the deceased feline while his sister still grieved over his body. Some quiet whispers and murmurs were shared between the guards as they slowly faded away, until Sera, Fero, Savannah, Krystal, and her father were the only ones remaining.

After a moment of long silence, the king spoke up. "It's time that we be on the move, Venomian soldiers may still patrol the edge of the forest. This place is no longer safe."

"If you'd like," Fero approached Savannah and put his hand on her shoulder, "the king and I could carry him back to the village for a proper burial."

Savannah turned and lifted her face to look up to his, eyes red and tears still trickling down her cheeks. She gripped the raccoon's hand in hers and whispered, "yes, I would like that."

"I was with him when he was struck down. He fought and died courageously until the very end… He deserves nothing less." Krystal hoped her words would help to comfort her friend, still clinging to a small feeling of regret that she hadn't been stronger. She wished there was more she could have done for Atticus, something that could have prevented his death from happening.

A hand reached for hers, and she looked over to see that it was Sera. "I'm sure you did all you could, sis," the crimson vixen told her.

Taking her friend's hand and breathing a deep sigh, Krystal led the way as her father and Fero lifted Atticus' body and began the trek back to the village. Savannah followed at the rear of the group, hardly taking her eyes off her brother's body and never looking back; back to that place where her brother's life was taken, to that place where Atticus breathed his final breath.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 **Rain, Rain, Go Away**

Clouds stretched across the sky and raindrops began to fall as Krystal stood beside her father, gathered with him and the entire Royal Guard at the location of Atticus' burial site. As if the day couldn't become more dismal after the loss of a friend and loved one, the blackening of the sky and coming of rain only darkened the atmosphere. Krystal gazed mournfully at the dark tunnel ahead of her, leading deeper into the hillside behind the Royal Palace where the catacombs of the village lay hidden beneath. Just hours ago, her dear friend and comrade Atticus had been slain in battle before her eyes, and a burial ceremony had been held to grieve for him only moments ago.

After the battle leading up to Atticus' death, the Royal Guard had assembled in a funeral procession, carrying the feline's body from the palace to the burial place of their ancestors by following a trail leading behind the hillside. It was a quiet and somber walk as Krystal followed her father, flanked by his guards on either side as they went on in silence. Sera and Fero followed behind Sera's father, while Savannah trailed behind the wooden coffin carrying her brother's body.

Before Atticus was taken into the tunnel to be laid in his final resting place among his ancestors, several of the guards shared words over their comrade's passing. Atticus and Savannah had been without parents for many years, being orphaned as small children during the last great war that had brought peace over Cerinia for all these years since. Both of their parents had been slain in battle with neighboring villages, and the two children had grown up in the hands of the Royal Guard ever since. Savannah was the only of her family left, the first to speak on the behalf of her deceased sibling.

Tears filled the young feline's eyes and she had to pause more than once to catch her breath, speaking of how close the two had been especially given their circumstances. They felt welcomed and loved within the guard, but it sometimes seemed like it was just them against the world. When it came to family, they only had each other. It was truly heartbreaking for her to lose her everything in Atticus, especially at such a young age. She went on to say that he gave his life nobly and honorably, just as their parents had done for them. By the end of her speech Krystal was in tears, and even her father seemed to be quite defeated by this unexpected loss.

Several other members of the Royal Guard shared some words, including Sera's father. As captain of the guard, he made mention of Atticus' skills and talents, changing the subject from grief and despair to a celebration of the life of their friend. In his youth, the skilled warrior had established his place among the ranks of Cerinian warriors in their village, and fought to defend those he loved and cared about until the very end.

When all those who were willing to speak had said their final words, Savannah assisted the guards as they carried Atticus' casket inside the tombs, where she said her final goodbye to her brother and lifelong friend. Clouds darkened the sky and the rain began to downpour as the ceremony came to a close. Krystal waited beside her father, standing in silence as she and others stood vigil over the catacombs before departing for home. She and her father were joined by Fero, Sera and her father, Savannah, and several of the Royal Guard as they spent their last moments in mourning.

As rain began to drench Krystal's fur and clothes, she bowed her head and clenched her fists at her sides, still partially blaming herself for what happened to Atticus. Indifferent to the cold, wet feeling clinging to her body, the vixen couldn't help but feel that she should have been stronger. She was there when it all happened, she was helpless to watch as her friend fell victim to the ruthless fox, Revan. _If only I had done more, then maybe Atticus might still be alive…_

Savannah approached, distracting her from her thoughts. As she shared a sorrowful glance with Krystal, Sera, and Fero, the four friends embraced each other in a circle, each one lending as much comfort and support to Savannah as possible. There was no need to share words; they were something of a family, the bonds between them only becoming stronger at the loss of Atticus.

After sharing a long and tender embrace, Sera and her father gave their condolences to Savannah and left the burial site, returning home to the palace. The remaining guards followed shortly after, including Fero and even Krystal's father as he led the way back through the growing downpour. Krystal stayed behind, the last to wait with Savannah as she continued to mourn for her brother. "Don't be too long, you will catch a cold if you stay in this weather too long," the king had warned them. Though stern, he spoke compassionately, understanding how hard this must be for Savannah especially.

For what seemed like an eternity, Krystal stood by Savannah's side in silence as the rain continued to pour down. Neither one moved nor spoke a word, but Krystal's sixth sense probed inquisitively at Savannah's mind as she looked on at the tunnel where her brother's body was laid to rest. Though her friend's grief and despair were more than she could bear, something urged Krystal onward all the same. It was a sickening feeling, the need to keep reading her friend's thoughts even knowing that it would lead to more pain. In fact, she welcomed it; somehow, the agony brought in from Savannah's thoughts helped to soothe her own aching heart. By taking in her friend's suffering, it felt as if she was not alone in hers.

"I guess we should be heading back now…" Savannah murmured, finally taking her eyes off the entryway to the catacombs to stare upward into the darkening sky. She said nothing else, seeming nearly numb to everything around her.

Krystal took a step towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to do what little she could to provide some comfort. "I guess so, the night is approaching… let's get out of this rain." Taking the first steps toward home, the vixen nudged her friend to come with her as they slowly began the trek home.

The dirt trail beneath Krystal's sandals was beginning to turn into mud as it mixed with rainwater, and she had to be careful where she placed each foot to avoid slipping. After finally putting the tombs behind her, she became suddenly aware of how cold and drenched she really was. Water clung to her fur and soaked her clothes, chilling her to the core. A glance over at Savannah revealed that she must have felt the same way; the feline had her arms crossed and tucked close to her chest in an attempt to keep herself warm.

"You were there, when Atticus was…" Savannah turned and met her gaze as they continued walking. "How did he die?"

Krystal was taken aback by the question. In the hours since the battle, she hadn't ever had the chance to talk to Savannah and explain everything. She had no idea how her brother was slain, nor who's blade had ended his life. _I still don't know what to tell her,_ Krystal thought to herself as she opened her mouth to answer. She thought back to how she had been injured and winded, unable to defend herself as Revan closed in for the killing strike. Just when she thought it was all over, that was when he threw himself in the way… when Atticus gave his life to save hers. She had fought against Revan so that she might be able to protect him, but in the end, their roles had been reversed.

"What happened?" Savannah's elevated tone snapped Krystal from her thoughts.

"Calm down, it's going to be alright," the vixen tried to console her friend, but she was too blinded by grief and loss for mere words.

"Who killed him? Did he even stand a chance, or was he slain like helpless prey? Why did he even have to die? Why was my brother taken from me?" As the feline bombarded Krystal with questions, she broke down into tears and collapsed to her knees.

Gasping in shock, Krystal bent down and wrapped her arms around her friend's torso. Together, they closed their eyes and sobbed, holding on to each other and not letting go. The pain and agony emitting from Savannah's mind now manifesting itself in her actions finally caused Krystal to snap, crying not only for her own sorrow but for having to bear Savannah's as well. _My telepathy is not only a gift, but a terrible curse in times like these_ , the vixen reflected, realizing that she would have to share in the pain and sorrow of others as well. _Please, someone take this suffering away from me!_

After the two had shed their tears together and let all their emotions out, Savannah wiped her eyes and sobbed, "I'm sorry for throwing all the questions at you, but I just… I just want some kind of closure. Atticus was everything to me, especially after losing our parents so young. We always had each other, but now…"

Krystal released her grip, taking deep breaths and trying and calm herself down. "It's alright, I'm so sorry…" Collecting her thoughts, the vixen knew she had to force herself to be strong for her friend. "Atticus died to save me, he gave his life to protect me from a Venomian leader, a fox named Revan. He fought bravely; even though he had been badly wounded earlier, he didn't hesitate or show any fear. He stared at death face to face without faltering in the slightest."

Savannah's expression changed from that of sorrow to that of inquisitiveness as Krystal explained what happened, indicating that she wanted to know more. "Revan was a terrifying foe, his rage and ferocity unlike anything I have ever witnessed. I only survived the encounter because of your brother's sacrifice. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here…"

"I see," Savannah nodded, raising herself to her feet.

Krystal followed her lead, nodding toward the palace ahead in the growing darkness. "Come on, let's get home. If we delay any longer, we won't be able to even see the palace walls when we get to them."

Savannah led the way onward, seeming to feel more reassured and comforted by Krystal's words. "Thank you for sharing that with me," the feline's lips formed into a light smile. "It helps to know that my brother's sacrifice meant something. Did he say anything to you… you know, before he died?"

"He told me to keep an eye out on you, and to keep you out of trouble," Krystal joked gently. Rubbing her chin, she was still puzzled by some of Atticus' final words. "He also told me that I needed to 'live on, and be the light and hope of Cerinia'… I'm not even sure what that means."

"Hmm," Savannah murmured. "I'm not sure, he's never said anything to me about it. Whatever it means," the feline turned and faced Krystal with sincerity, "I'm glad that you _are_ here. You've always been such a good friend to both of us, and I couldn't thank you enough for that. I'm sure that Atticus gave his life for you for a reason, and even if we don't know what that reason is, I'm behind you all the way."

Krystal staggered backward, overwhelmed at Savannah's words. "I, uh- Thank you… as a friend I'm always here for you, even if you feel there is no one else left. I don't know if I'm anything special, or important… but I'll do everything in my power not to allow Atticus' sacrifice to go in vain. You have my word."

Savannah's praise and confidence in Krystal caused her to think back on what her father had told her just after the discovery of Atticus' death. He mentioned some 'ancient prophecy,' something that might connect her strange nightmares and the shadowy presence dwelling in her mind. If this prophecy involving her really did exist, could it be what Atticus referred to with his final words?

 _I must learn more about this prophecy, what it means to be the 'light and hope of Cerinia,'_ Krystal thought with a newfound determination.Clenching her fists and staring into the blackening sky, she made a silent vow to the spirit of Atticus, wherever it may have been. _No matter what happens, I refuse to have let you die for nothing!_

Night began to fall and darkness filled the sky as Krystal and Savannah reached the palace courtyard. The rain from earlier had steadily increased as the pair trekked home, growing to a steady downpour as they reached the many steps leading to the palace gates. Krystal led the way as she raced up the stone pathway, carefully doing her best not to slip as she took each step upward in the pouring rain. Savannah followed closely behind, neither one saying a word until they reached the entrance to the palace.

Krystal knocked at the large wooden doors three times before they slowly opened, releasing warmth and light out into the stormy night as she and Savannah slipped inside. Shaking her hair of water and wringing out her tail, she stopped when she caught the irritated glance from the guard who had let her in. The brown fox's fur and steel-plated armor had both been sprayed with water out of her carelessness, and she lowered her head in an unspoken apology. Fortunately, she had not put out the torch he was carrying, but he was surely not happy about getting wet. He stared at her with a frown on his face, clearly expecting a formal apology, even from the King's daughter.

"She's sorry!" Savannah spoke up, shaking water from her fur at a safe distance from any other soldiers. Turning back to Krystal, she nudged her onward. "Let's get going, its late and we really should be getting to bed."

Nodding, Krystal took the lead through the palace, passing from the entryway to a wide corridor to the side, away from the Great Hall. Darkness filtered in from the several windows she passed by, guided only by the light of several torches lining the palace walls and the occasional light of a roaming guard's lantern. Heading for their sleeping quarters, Krystal was suddenly stopped by Savannah, who put her arm on the vixen's shoulder.

Krystal turned around slowly, surprised to find a smile on her friend's face after everything they had been through that day.

"Krystal, I just…" Savannah paused, as if it was somewhat difficult to get the words out. "I just wanted to thank you, for staying with me. It really meant a lot that you waited at the catacombs while I mourned for my brother, through the rain and everything." A tear formed in the feline's eye, and she quickly wiped it away. "It's hard, but I'm going to try to be strong. Especially with everything that's happening, everything that's about to happen… this is surely only the beginning of what else is yet to come."

"Th-Thank you," Krystal stuttered, shocked but also distracted by what Savannah said. Thinking about the war with the Venomians reminded her of what Atticus said before he died, what her father had repeated: _You must live on… be the light and hope for Cerinia_. What could this possibly mean for her? How could she ever possibly stand up against the armies of Venom and save her village and Cerinia on her own? _Atticus, was there something you knew that I don't?_

Shaking her head and returning to the moment, Krystal apologized, "forgive me, I'm still overwhelmed with everything that's happened. I can't seem to shake off your brother's last words… I don't know where to find the answers."

Savannah led the way as they continued down the corridor, heading for the winding staircase where their paths would separate. Krystal's room was on the second level, but Savannah's was located on the ground floor of the palace, along with the majority of the Royal Guard. The living quarters on the second level were mostly reserved for the royal family, with the exception of the Captain of the Guard and some of the caretakers of the palace and grounds.

Before turning down the hallway and bidding Krystal farewell, Savannah turned to her one last time. "I don't know the answers either, but Atticus must have been onto something. When he wasn't on duty or out training, he recently liked to spend a lot of time in the library, reading."

Krystal tilted her head to one side, confused.

"I'm not sure how that will help, if at all… but who knows, maybe the answers are closer than you might think." Without waiting for a reply, Savannah turned and headed down the next hallway, waving her arm good-bye as she faded into the darkness beyond Krystal's sight.

 _The library… I'm don't know what could be there to help, but I guess I can stop over tomorrow, just to be sure_. Tiredness weighed heavily on Krystal's body and mind after the events of the day, from training with her father to the skirmish with Venom, then staying out late in the rain to mourn with Savannah. As she started wearily up the winding staircase leading to the second floor of the palace, the vixen longed for sleep and the comfort of her bed more than anything.

Passing by Sera's room, the vixen almost stopped to knock at her door before continuing on her way. _It's late… she's asleep, and I'm too exhausted anyway._ Krystal debated waking her friend and explaining everything that troubled her heart and mind, but decided against it. Surely, it could wait until tomorrow. The most important thing on Krystal's mind was to lay down and get some rest for the coming day.

When the vixen reached the door leading to her room, she slowly pushed it open with what little energy and strength she had left. A kick of each foot slipped her leather sandals off and she set her weapons on the nightstand beside her bed. Everything was dark, nearly to the point where Krystal couldn't see as her actions were guided mostly by memory. Her night vision slowly adjusted to the absolute darkness as she reached for the top blanket on her bed and threw it over her head, drying her hair and then the rest of her body before tossing it aside.

Krystal filled her lungs and breathed a deep sigh as she collapsed onto her bed, staring up at the black ceiling while slowly absorbing what she had been through that day. Though Atticus' death had happened right before her own eyes, she still could hardly believe it and come to terms with the loss of her friend and comrade.

 _This can't be happening, please just wake up and let this be a bad dream… the invasion, this war, everything…_ But she knew in her heart that it wasn't a dream, this was all happening for real. She would wake up tomorrow and find herself in a world surrounded by enemies on all sides, in a world without her friend Atticus, and in a world where she was somehow supposed to be the 'light and hope' her village needed.

Krystal raised her arm and rested the back of her palm on her forehead, closing her eyes as sleep slowly consumed her. _I_ will _be the light and hope for my friends, for my village, and for Cerinia… whatever it takes, I'll do everything in my power to put an end to this invasion so that no more lives need to be lost._ As she took a deep yawn, Krystal's last thoughts were a mixture of hope, fear, and anger as she slowly slipped away and her mind was consumed with dreams.

Her nightmares began the way they had always done for so long. Krystal immediately found herself outside the palace grounds, in the heart of the village surrounding it. The atmosphere was far from its usual peace and tranquility, with the bustling activity of the village's many shopkeepers and soldiers roaming about. Instead, the village was in an uproar; the ground quaked with the rumbling of massive Venomian battle tanks lumbering through the village, crushing buildings and firing plasma rounds into the air.

Several Venomian battleships soared overhead and Krystal raised her arms to shield herself from the buffeting winds that followed. Everywhere she looked, she could see nothing but endless streams of plasmatic rounds firing from Venomian weapons and could scarcely hear anything above the sound of bombs exploding all around her. The forces of Venom seemed to completely overwhelm the Cerinian warriors, driving them back slowly as they retreated for the palace courtyard.

Reaching for her laser sword, Krystal drew her weapon and pressed the button on its hilt to activate its glimmering blade. Even armed, she felt hopeless against the endless onslaught from Venom. Before she could even force her body to make a move, her eyes followed a laser beam fired from one of the Venomian tanks, heading straight for the stone barrier that surrounded the village. With an earth-trembling roar, the laser impacted the wall and sent cracks running through it. Krystal watched in horror as the wall began to crumble, slowly at first but then finished off by the impact of another blow. Debris was thrown up into the air as rock and stone collapsed, leaving what was left of the barricade in large heaps on the ground.

Out of the dust and smoke, the first of the Venomian tanks slowly ramped over the debris and forced its way into the village itself, followed by dozens of foot soldiers and several more tanks as they swarmed across the battlefield. A swift glance to her left and right revealed that the wall was beginning to crumble on all sides, leaving the Cerinians completely surrounded by enemy gunfire.

Just when Krystal thought the situation couldn't get any more out of hand, her eyes widened and she tensed her muscles in apprehension as the commander Revan set foot inside the village walls. The dark fox was armed from head to toe in blasters and rifles, wielding two energy swords, one in each hand. This time, he did not lead Venom's forces alone; just beside him, another figure strode through the wreckage and onto the battlefield. Standing several feet taller than Revan, the newcomer's scaly, green skin was barely visible through the massive armored plates covering his body. The lizard carried an enormous black launcher over his shoulder, lifting it as if it was as light as a feather as he followed Revan through the village outskirts.

 _Revan is not alone this time!_ Krystal gasped as she analyzed this new foe. Though she knew in the depths of her mind that she was dreaming, somehow, she felt as if this second Venomian commander was very real. _Maybe he exists in the waking world as well… am I seeing glimpses of the future? Is this what's to become of our village?_ Krystal shut her eyes and shook her head back and forth, begging for this nightmare to end. _How many restless nights must I watch my village suffer?_ The vixen thought. _How can I prevent this from happening, how could I possibly stop the armies of Venom?_

Opening her eyes, Krystal found to her dismay that her nightmare had not ceased. She was still among the battlefield that was once her peaceful village, surrounded by endless screams and cries of agony as buildings burned and Cerinians fled in terror around her. From among the chaos around her, Krystal spotted the silhouette of her father racing forward from among the Cerinian ranks, heading straight for Revan and the lizard beside him.

"No! Father, wait!" Krystal cried as she raced forward to join the king and the rest of her allies. Though she ran as fast and hard as she could, her legs didn't seem to take her anywhere as she could do nothing but watch the two armies clash. Tears began to form in her eyes as she desperately stretched out her hand, reaching for her father as he faded from her sight amidst the chaos of the battle around her.

"Don't go, I won't lose _you_ , too!" Suddenly the earth beneath Krystal trembled as the ground underneath her feet collapsed, swallowing her whole and plunging her into a realm of eternal darkness. This was the part of her recurring nightmares that she feared the most; not the war, not the carnage and bloodshed that consumed her village, but those eyes; the two red, malicious eyes that haunted her dreams every night and had appeared before her once again.

Out of the darkness, the shadowy figure of a head manifested and seemed to cloak itself around the two eyes, nearly resembling an ethereal face that was unlike anything Krystal had seen before in her nightmares. The apparition, finally beginning to take a more distinguishable form, hovered in the void before Krystal, continuously glaring at her with its two crimson eyes.

"Who are you?" the vixen questioned fearfully, "why do you come to me every night in my dreams?"

No response came from the spiritual head, it only continued to stare at her without so much as blinking or moving its eyes.

"Your eyes… why do I see them as my own?" The vixen almost shuddered at her own question, remembering the multiple times that she had stared back into her own reflection to see the same crimson eyes before her.

When she failed to hear yet another response, Krystal became impatient, furious with the spirit that plagued her mind and soul. "What are you doing here, tormenting me? Either rid me of your presence or help me! My village is on the verge of war… my planet is in danger!" Then it suddenly occurred to her. "Wait a minute… You're the one showing me these visions… aren't you?"

Krystal nearly leaped from her fur when the head seemed to nod slowly, finally making its first measurable response.

"Are you trying to warn me of what is to come?" Without waiting for an answer, she continued, "then please, help me! Show me how to defeat the Venomians, how to be the 'light and hope' that I am supposed to be!"

As if in reply, the ghostly figure began to glow with a dim blue light, slowly spreading until it engulfed the apparition's entire form. With a blink of its eyes, their color changed from crimson to an aquatic blue. The being's shadowy figure began to take form, as streaks of blue light weaved back and forth to give it a long jaw and mouth, a nose, and wide cheek lines. Dark streaks of color stretched across the clear-blue face and streams of pale blue light trailed from its temple, flowing elegantly behind it as it hovered before Krystal, who was taken aback in awe and wonder.

"Could you possibly be…" Before Krystal could finish her thought, her entire vision was consumed in a bright white light and her dream began to fade from her mind. "No, wait, come back!" The vixen called out into the light desperately, "I need to know what to do! Please just give me a sign, a direction, something!"

As the light around her faded, Krystal woke with a start, raising her torso from her bed and staring into her lap. Each breath came heavily and her heart pounded in her chest as she glanced around at her room, still dark from the night outside. The rain from earlier must have subsided, as the sound of raindrops could no longer be heard pounding against the palace walls outside.

 _Another vision, just like before…_ The vixen shook her head wearily, realizing by the darkness around her that she had only been asleep for maybe several hours. The night was still rather young, but going back to sleep was the last thing on the young girl's mind. _But the end of this nightmare was new, something I haven't ever seen before, as if my visions are… developing…_

Reflecting on her recurring dreams, they all seemed to begin the same way; with a vision of some kind of battle, taking place just outside her home village. They always transitioned into the same mysterious, crimson eyes watching over her as well. But in recent nights, each sequential dream was beginning to add more depth, more detail. This time the war came to the heart of her village, and she was in the middle of it. Revan was there as well, but he was accompanied by another Venomian commander or general. The lizard, she did not remember encountering during the previous day's skirmish, but still had a feeling that he might be real.

"And the dark spirit," Krystal mumbled as she bit her lip. "It appeared to have changed, into…" _But that can't be…_ Over and over as she envisioned what she saw in her dream, she couldn't shake the feeling that she recognized what the spirit had become. _I've heard of a ghostly, white-blue spirit being before somewhere… Somehow it seemed so familiar, but I've never seen it in my dreams before now…_

Krystal's eyes widened as she froze in bewilderment, her vision sharpening as she adjusted to the darkness of the night. _I know of those spirits because of Father!_ Suddenly Krystal began to put the pieces together. She thought back to many years ago, when her father had taken her into the heart of the village library. There, he had shown her the history of Cerinia, and taught her about a very powerful magical force living within the planet itself.

"Now I finally understand! _That's_ what you've been doing in the library so often!" Leaping out of bed, the vixen slipped on her sandals and reached for her laser sword, still laying on her nightstand, deactivated. Without so much as adjusting her hair in the mirror, she bolted out her bedroom door and shut it behind her.

As much as her body told her to stay and go back to sleep, Krystal's mind raced onward, filling her with new questions as others had become answered. As much as she knew this should wait until morning, she simply couldn't fight the urge to know the truth. As she crept from her room like a thief in the night, she activated her laser sword and let its gleaming blade guide her steps in the darkness.

 _I know what it was that I saw,_ the vixen affirmed to herself. _The spirit haunting my dreams is certainly one of the Krazoa, an ancient race that had come into existence when the planet Cerinia was formed._ Krystal remembered her father's description of them vividly, nearly mirroring what she had just witnessed for herself. _Father mentioned a prophecy before, could it have something to do with the Krazoa?_ Thinking back to what Savannah had said only hours ago, something about Atticus spending a lot of time in the library seemed to add up. _He_ and _Father know something I don't… and I think the answer lies deep inside the library._

Just as Krystal had nearly reached the spiral staircase at the end of the dark and empty corridor, her sixth sense suddenly triggered like an alarm in her mind. With her telepathic senses set on high alert, she had been continuously scanning the palace for signs of lively mental activity, aside from the many minds deep in sleep and dreams. A rapid scan of the second floor revealed that one of the patrolling guards was approaching from another connecting hallway.

Deactivating her laser sword and pressing her back against the cold, marble wall, Krystal hoped that she had not been deceived by the light emitting from her weapon. The last thing she needed was to be scolded and sent back to her room for roaming the palace this late at night. As the light from a flickering torch began to creep around the corner, Krystal forced her way into the guard's mind and linked it to hers.

 _The area is all clear, return to where you came from_ , the vixen projected into the thought patterns of the guard, placing her fingers to her temple in concentration. As the light from around the corner increased in radiance, Krystal forced herself to remain as calm and silent as she could possibly muster. _This area is clear, leave now at once._

Just when she thought she could hold her breath no longer and her lungs would burst, the sound of footsteps around the corner came to a halt. The glow of light had become so bright that Krystal knew it was within just feet of her. After a short pause, the sound of footsteps persisted once again but the light began to fade as the patrolling guard turned around and headed the other direction.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Krystal remained motionless until she was sure that the guard was long gone before activating her laser sword and following its light toward the winding staircase ahead of her. Instead of following the steps downward to the Great Hall and the throne room, she took the path leading upward to the third level of the palace.

 _That was a close call_ , _I'm honestly surprised that worked,_ the vixen reflected, scanning the surrounding area on the third floor before leaving the safety and concealment of the stairway. She failed to detect any waking minds among those who resided on the level above, guaranteeing her safe passage as she crept silently toward the entrance of the library. _Almost there,_ Krystal reassured herself as she neared the large, wooden doorway at its entrance. Whatever lay in wait for her on the other side, the vixen was confident that she would find some answers to what had been troubling her mind.

 _The prophecy my father spoke about must be written somewhere inside… Atticus; you and Savannah have led me here together. I'm ready to find whatever you were meant to show me._ Taking a deep breath, Krystal pressed herself against the dense wooden door and forced it open with a jolt, nearly panicking in alarm as it creaked with age and wear, hoping that no one had heard her. As she pushed her way through and let the door shut slowly behind her, she raised her laser sword to take in her surroundings. With a gasp, the vixen's eyes widened in shock and horror as she realized that she was not alone in the room; the faint outline of another figure stood before her, anticipating her arrival.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

 **Night Whispers**

Krystal took a step backward, turning to flee from the library only to find that the entryway had sealed itself behind her. She cast a glance back at the figure standing before her, panicking as she threw her weight into the ancient wooden door in an attempt to force it open. Realizing there was no escape, Krystal spun and raised the metallic hilt of her laser sword, threatening to activate it.

"Who are you? What are you doing in the library?" Krystal focused her sixth sense and trained it on the intruder's mind, but she found herself unable to detect his thoughts. A shadowy veil seemed to linger over her target's mind, rendering her telepathic abilities useless. _This was something similar to what I sensed with Revan! Could this be him?_ The trespasser appeared to be a fox, but most of his face and body were concealed beneath a dark blue hood and cloak. The little of him that was visible was indistinguishable in the darkness of the library, closed and off limits during the hours of the night.

Fighting back terror, Krystal activated her laser sword and swung for the mysterious character. "Identify yourself!"

As the vixen's glowing blade stretched forward, a rod-like object emerged from the shadowy fox's robes and the two weapons clashed, showering the air with sparks and lighting up the space between them. As Krystal held her position firmly, she lifted her blade to gaze into her enemy's eyes. The two crystal blue irises reflected her own in their depths, and at once the vixen drew a pace backward.

"Father? What are you doing here this late at night?"

The cloaked figure lowered his weapon, lifting the hood over his head to reveal a crown atop his head. This 'intruder' was in fact the king, Krystal's father. As he relaxed his defensive stance and approached his daughter, Krystal couldn't help but return his warm smile with surprise.

"Were you here, waiting for me?" The vixen questioned, lowering her laser sword and looking him up and down. "Why did you hide your mental trace from me?... And what's with the cloak? Why all the secrecy?"

"I'm sorry to have scared you by hiding myself the way I did," the king apologized. "I have been awake most of the night, monitoring the mental activity of the villagers and guards until yours in particular caught my mind's eye."

Krystal gasped in alarm. "So you know about my vision? You saw it too?"

Her father nodded. "Yes, I saw nearly everything. It was then that I knew I had to come here and wait for you; I disguised myself because it was _you_ , and _you_ only that I wished to see here. I safeguarded my mental trace because I knew you wouldn't come unless you knew you were alone." Before Krystal could ask any more of the questions that burned on her mind, the king waved his hand and beckoned for her to follow him. "Come, let us walk."

The vixen hesitated before taking her first step toward her father, gradually giving in as he was nearly lost in the darkness again. Racing to catch his pace, Krystal glanced around at the library's interior, hardly visible in the lingering darkness as very few torches burned dimly along the walls. Her memory of this place was rather faint, as she rarely visited the vast wealth of knowledge hidden among the many ancient tomes and scrolls hidden inside. She thought she and her father had passed the main lobby, located just at the entrance, but she was starting to become lost among the many twists and turns as she followed blindly in the dark.

Krystal raised her laser sword, hovering it over the many shelves and tables she passed trying to identify some of the names of the works with little success. Most of the books appeared to be old and worn, collecting dust as if they had not been touched for entire lifetimes. _I hope Father even knows where he's going_ , the vixen thought as she honed her mind in on his. The wall barricading his mind from her sixth sense was beginning to fade, allowing her to sense his thoughts as she usually could.

"It's a neat trick, isn't it? The ability to shield one's mind from that of another…" The king's voice nearly caused Krystal to jump in the overwhelming silence, forcing her from her thoughts. "It will be a skill that you will surely learn to use in time, but requires a deep knowledge and understanding of how your gift works. Only once you master the minds of others, will you be able to learn how to become invisible to them."

"You seem to know where you are going?" Krystal asked. Honestly, she would have had no idea where to start when searching the library for the information she needed. Surely many of the ancient prophecies and omens would have had their own special location, kept secretly apart from the rest of the library.

The king nodded, "I think I do… but not by my own effort. There are many secrets hidden within these very walls, some that even I am unaware of. The location of these prophecies has eluded me for quite some time, and I have been able to discover it only recently."

Krystal took another sharp turn, following just behind her father when a thought suddenly sparked in her mind. _Atticus!_ Channeling her mind to link with her father's she voiced her thoughts telepathically. _You sent Atticus to search the library, didn't you? That's why he had been spending so much time here lately…_

"Precisely," Krystal's father affirmed as he turned his head and locked eyes with her over his shoulder. "As the king, and ruler of this village, some of this library's secrets are passed down through the generations… but some, not so explicitly. I knew of a special location, hidden among the library and meant for keeping many the ancient prophecies, but I was never told its exact location."

"And once you knew about my dreams and visions, you sent Atticus to search the library and find them?" Krystal finished her father's thought, almost knowing what he was going to say in advance.

As the king began to slow his pace to a halt, Krystal did the same. It appeared as if they had approached one of the far corners of the library, staring at two enormous walls so tall that they stretched up into the darkness and became lost from sight. Books filled each of the corner walls, with some occasionally missing and others left partially opened, as if someone had recently been rummaging through them in a desperate search.

"Either luck or fate favors us this night," Krystal's father murmured as he gazed at the large collection of works before him. "It appears that Atticus had just managed to discover this location before he was killed…"

Krystal's eyes widened and her jaw dropped as suddenly, her deceased friend was present in the library, with her. The feline appeared to be exactly the same as he had always been, prior to the battle leading up to his death; his armor and clothing were clean of the blood that had soaked them and his wounds were no longer apparent as he stood before her, facing the walls as he approached the bookshelves in front of him.

"Father, look, it's Atticus! He's back!" Without waiting for her father's acknowledgment, Krystal thrust herself forward and extended her arm to wrap around her friend's chest, so thankful that he was somehow still alive. She had watched him die, and she had witnessed his funeral, but the sight of her friend alive before her own eyes caused her to ignore all that she knew to be true. Tears of joy began to form in her eyes as she reached for Atticus, only to find that her hand slipped right through him.

As Krystal turned to look at her father, his expression told her all that she needed to hear. _I'm so sorry,_ the king projected his thoughts into her mind. _This is only a memory I collected from Atticus' mind before he died. I am simply reliving the moment when he discovered the hidden doorway leading to the location of the ancient prophecies._

Turning back to the image of Atticus, Krystal watched as he searched each book, each shelf, flipping through the pages of each book before setting them down again. Some, he placed exactly where he had found them; others, he had been less careful with, setting them down one by one in the positions where they had been when Krystal first set eyes on them. Just when the feline began to appear distraught, he pulled on a book at the end of a lower shelf and the wall began to tremble.

 _Unfortunately, Atticus is still dead. Yesterday's battle really happened, and our friend and comrade is no longer with us._ Krystal's father cast his thoughts into her mind as a section of the wall forced itself backward, sliding sideways and revealing a secret hallway leading to an unknown part of the library. _All we can do from here is honor his memory, by using what he was able to learn and fighting the same fight he gave his life for._

As the image of Atticus faded and the walls of the library returned to their original state, Krystal wiped the last tear from her eyes and nodded, crouching down on one knee so that she could reach the special book that triggered the change. As she ran her fingers up and down its leather binding, she imagined the hand of Atticus joining with hers as she pulled on it with a jolt. Once again, the walls began to tremble as Krystal rose to her feet and backed several paces away, joining her father. Again, the same section of the wall pushed back and slid sideways to reveal the hidden pathway once more.

The king took a step forward, hesitating as he turned to his daughter. "The prophecy must be this way; lead on with your sword as a light."

Krystal stepped past him, nodding as she raised her weapon and allowed its plasmatic blade to shine forward in the darkness. Taking her first step through the opening archway in the wall, the vixen shuddered as she entered the overwhelming darkness. Opening into a tunnel built into the marble walls of the palace, not a single light shined beyond the walls of the library itself. There was only darkness ahead of Krystal as felt and paced her way through the narrow passageway cautiously as she sensed for her father's presence behind her.

 _I'm here, don't be afraid,_ the thoughts of her father helped to soothed her unease. Unable to look back and see him, the king's thought patterns were the only evidence that he was even following her at all.

After what seemed like an eternity of wandering in the black, Krystal nearly crashed into a wall as she barely caught herself with her palm, pressing against what felt like sturdy wood. Taking a step back, she cast the light of her laser sword ahead of her, realizing that she had found a doorway at the end of the passage. Scanning the wooden door for a handle, she spotted one midway on the right side and gripped it in her free hand, pushing against it with her shoulder to no effect.

"Allow me," the voice of her father sent shivers running down her spine as he stepped ahead of her. Krystal desperately longed to be out in the open, free from the confinement of the narrow walls and the haunting darkness, but her desire to discover her destiny kept her from turning tail and running. Now that her planet was on the brink of imminent war, she was willing to take any chance at saving her village and her planet.

With a mighty thrust, the king threw his entire bodyweight into the wooden door and it burst open. Losing sight of her father in the void ahead, Krystal raced forward and entered the next room. The tight hallway behind her suddenly gave way to a larger room as Krystal could no longer feel the walls on either side. Raising her laser sword, the vixen could barely distinguish her father, standing several paces ahead of her.

Lifting one arm from beneath his hooded cloak, the king extended it toward his daughter. "Give me your sword," he directed, without any further explanation.

Unwilling to question his request, Krystal carefully handed her weapon over, sure that her father had taken a firm hold of its hilt before releasing her grip. Still unsure, she could do nothing but watch as he descended down a small series of stairs, pausing once the ground leveled out again.

Turning to his right, the king took several paces until one of the side walls came into view. As he raised the laser sword, Krystal could faintly see a glimpse of an unlit torch, clinging to the wall. One spark from the plasmatic weapon set it ablaze with flaming light, slightly enhancing Krystal's vision of the room below.

As the vixen began down the stairs to join her father, he retrieved the torch from its resting place along the wall and handed her weapon back to her. "Look here," the king turned his head to the opposite end of the room and nodded. As the passageway came to a dead end, the final room housed a small wooden table, with bookshelves standing on either side.

Far less impressive than Krystal expected, she tilted her head and turned to her father. "Is this it?" Glancing ahead, she noticed quite a number of scrolls and leather books lining the shelves and cluttering the desk. How would she know which one possessed the prophecy? There were so many to read from, it could take hours sorting through it all.

"Don't worry, we are one step ahead on this one." Sensing Krystal's anticipation, the king answered her questions out loud. Placing his hand on his forehead and closing his eyes, Krystal felt a sudden influx of mental energy emitting from her father in waves. Once again, the spirit of Atticus appeared before them, this time rummaging through the scrolls and books at the table.

"I've been following your nightmares and visions for a while, ever since I learned that you were having them," the king murmured. "Your interaction with the spirits is something that I have not seen nor heard of in my lifetime, but it brings back some of the ancient stories passed down through the generations of the royal family. You know some of the legends of the Krazoa… I've told you these stories many times before, especially as a child."

Krystal nodded, curious as to why her father was bringing this up now. He had seen her vision from earlier, and he knew that she had seen one of the Krazoa in her dreams that night. "Yes, I remember…" The vixen thought back to the many stories she had been told growing up. It was said that these legends had been passed down for hundreds of years, down through the royal family.

"It all began with the two planets," Krystal began, reciting the words her father had spoken so many times before. "Cerinia is only one of them, but the other was lost nearly a million years ago, when it fell out of orbit. This sister planet to Cerinia has long since been forgotten, its name and location a mystery to those who live today. Among these two planets resided the Krazoa Spirits, ancient peacekeepers and bringers of light and life to the two planets. Each planet was filled with a powerful energy force, requiring the power of many Krazoa Spirits to absorb it and keep it in check.

When Cerinia's sister planet split and was lost to another star system, the majority of the spirits remained here. It is still unknown whether this sister planet survived, but some say that several spirits had managed to merge with it, although several spirits alone would not be enough to absorb the magical energy threatening to tear the planet apart." The vixen paused, narrowing her eyes as she stared into her father's. "Why am I telling you this? What does this have to do with my dreams, and the prophecy?"

The king turned away from her, watching as the spirit of Atticus continued searching through the many scrolls at the table, tossing them aside when he failed to find what he was looking for. "When you first began having your visions, and even up until recently, I was unsure if the prophecy I had in mind even pertained to you… but after witnessing the Krazoa tonight, I am almost certain you are the one."

"What _one?_ What do the Krazoa Spirits have to do with all this?" Just as Krystal asked her question, Atticus' ghost came to an abrupt halt, leaning over the table intently as he read from the scroll in his hands. After a slight pause, the feline carefully rolled the scroll tightly and set it down on the table again, leaning against one of the bookshelves adjacent to the back wall.

"Thank you," The king acknowledged, releasing the focus of his mind. As if the spirit knew it had finished its work, the ghost of Atticus turned and gave one last look at Krystal and her father before vanishing. The last scroll he had read still stood propped up where he had left it, and Krystal's father headed for the desk to retrieve it.

Krystal froze where she stood and bit her lower lip nervously. _Is this it? The prophecy that will guide me, and show me how to become the 'light and hope' for Cerinia?_ Anxiety clawed at her as she anticipated what her father would read from the scroll. _What if the prophecy says nothing about how to save the planet? What then will I do? What if we came all this way for nothing?_

As the king grasped the scroll in one hand, he raised his torch so that he could have a better view, while also trying to avoid burning the ancient parchment he held. "Even I don't know what to find on this scroll; I never got the chance to ask Atticus exactly what was written here," he warned, raising his eyes to give his daughter a stern glance. "But I _do_ know that somehow, this scroll pertains to you and your connection to the spirits."

The scroll began to unwind as its ancient parchment rolled downward, stretching from the king's hand down to his bent elbow. Krystal's apprehension escalated as her father stared at the paper in silence, scanning it carefully as his eyes moved back and forth. After a long moment's hesitation, the vixen broken the silence.

"Well, what does it say, Father? Does it say anything about defeating the forces of Venom?"

The king did not answer immediately. Instead, he paced toward his daughter and passed the scroll to her, taking it carefully in her hands as she handed him her laser sword in return. Casting her eyes at the document, she almost gasped in shock as she realized that nearly the entire parchment was blank. The only text inscribed was written using an ancient Cerinian dialect that Krystal was unfamiliar with. Whoever had written this must have lived hundreds of years ago. As Krystal's eyes scanned the letters and symbols on the page, a voice inside her head spoke to her, as if reading each word.

 _In the time when a foreign threat emerges and all is at stake, only the one who can commune with the ancient spirits will be the last light and hope of Cerinia._

Krystal raised her eyes, realizing that it was her father who had translated the script as she read. "The language of our ancestors has all but faded from Cerinia's memory, but I spent some time studying in the event that we might need it," the king explained. "I had a feeling that this prophecy would be older, from a time when the ancient language was still dominant."

"So what does it mean?" Krystal glanced back down at the scroll before returning her father's gaze. "Is this _all_ we have to go on? Of course, Venom must be this 'foreign threat,' and surely everything is at stake now… but the rest doesn't seem to help at all!" Frustrated, Krystal stormed toward the desk and slammed the scroll down on top of it. "The prophecy says absolutely _nothing_ about what I must do, or _how_ I can possibly stop the armies of Venom!"

The sound of footsteps echoed in the dark chamber as her father approached. Krystal could sense his disappointment as well. Surely, he also expected more guidance. "I'm honestly not sure what that second part means," the king breathed a deep sigh. "One who can commune with the ancient spirits… I still have a strong feeling this refers to you, and your visions. Your connection to the Krazoa in your dreams is unprecedented, even among the previous telepaths of the royal family."

"But this still tells me nothing!" Krystal slammed her forearm against the wooden desk, feeling her inner rage beginning to surge. "Why couldn't they be more specific? How can I be the 'light and hope' Cerinia needs?"

The king set the laser sword down on the table, carefully positioning the blade so that it did not damage any of the scrolls and other works resting on its surface. Placing his hand on his daughter's hunched shoulders, he allowed his presence to comfort and soothe her mind. "Prophecies are not made to be cryptic or eluding intentionally; their prophets only describe what little information they know or have made available to them."

Krystal lifted her face and turned to look into her father's eyes once again, still confused and upset about what the scroll had revealed to her.

"We may not be told exactly what to do, but that is the part that is left up to us," the king continued. "This prophecy, together with your dreams, points directly to the Krazoa Spirits. This needs to be our starting place as we continue deciphering the prophecy's meaning."

Krystal nodded in understanding, allowing her anger to subside as she retrieved her laser sword and embraced its light. Fury and rage would not help her to save her planet. "Then how do we find them? The only place I've ever come into contact with a Krazoa Spirit was in my dreams, and I can only do so much from there. Is there a way to reach the spirits in the living world?"

The king rubbed the fur on his chin, deep in thought. "There just might be a way," he answered hesitantly. "But what I have in mind is incredibly dangerous, not to mention unrealistic, especially in these times…" Before Krystal could ask what he meant, he began toward the steps leading out of the room. "Come, we have learned all we can from here. We should be getting back."

Krystal tilted her head, surprised at her father's sudden urgency. Just moments ago, he appeared to be so calm and relaxed… but his demeanor had altered so abruptly as he raced up the stairs, hardly turning his back to be sure that she was following. As the vixen headed up the pathway and into the tunnel carved out of the marble, she cast her sixth sense out to her father, whose mind had once again been partially sealed from her sight. Racing to catch up in the darkness, Krystal knew better than to ask her father what was wrong. He clearly did not want her to know just yet.

"The Krazoa of Cerinia reside in the Krazoa Temple, located high in the mountains to the north," the king informed his daughter as his pace slowed. "At least, according to the stories and legends passed down from our ancestors. I have never been there, nor have I ever seen one of the spirits with my own eyes. Neither had my father, nor his father before him."

"Then how do you know they are there?" Krystal dared to ask, sensing that her father's urgency had lowered slightly with his pace. Whatever had been troubling his mind still persisted, but he had managed to lower his guard and return to a more relaxed state.

The return through the dark passageway leading back to the library was not quite as difficult as it had been the first time, this time having two sources of light as opposed to just one. Krystal's father led onward, using the torch he had found in the prophecy room as a guide. "No one does, for certain. The journey through the mountains is perilous, hazardous even for the most experienced warriors and travelers. None have risked making the journey for centuries, it is even questionable whether this ancient fortress still stands."

"But those are our odds?" Krystal questioned, sensing what her father's plan was. If they were to start with the Krazoa Spirits, the best way to find out more would be to find them for themselves. Maybe then, they would be able to learn more about the ancient prophecy and how to save their planet from the forces of Venom.

Finally reaching the end of the tunnel, Krystal followed her father as he stepped through the opening in the wall and into the interior of the library once again. The dimly lit space seemed bright in comparison to their previous location, though still dark from the night outside. When Krystal had safely reached the other side of the tunnel, the walls began to tremble and the entryway sealed itself off, leaving nothing but the library wall in its place.

"I'm afraid so," the king finally replied as the dust settled and all was silent. "Not only would we be acting on impulse, but we also have the concerns of the village to consider… I can't just take off for the mountains when our people are in danger. Venom surrounds us on all sides, and the walls are closing in. By the time we reach the Krazoa, it may already be too late-"

"Then I'll go alone," Krystal interrupted.

The king turned to face his daughter with a stern look. "Krystal, this isn't something you can do on your own. There is no safe path through the mountains, even if we knew exactly where the Krazoa Temple was located. This is a conversation for another time…Right now, I need you here in the village. War is coming, and I need every one of my best warriors to fight and defend the village."

Suddenly Krystal realized her father's urgency. "You sensed something, didn't you?"

Her father nodded, taking off at a fast walk back through the library while using his torch to light the way. "I've alerted Sera's father, who is assembling a meeting with the higher-ranking guards. We need to take defensive action and prepare for attack."

"Right now? This late in the night?" Krystal questioned, keeping pace at her father's heels.

Her father didn't answer, picking up his pace to a light run as he headed for the library entrance, glowing with a faint light in the surrounding darkness. Windows along the palace walls revealed the lingering night outside, still black from the lack of sunlight. Scanning her father's thought patterns, Krystal still found his mind to be clouded and sealed away from any further probing.

 _I hate it when my father gets like this_ , the vixen narrowed her eyes as a cold shiver ran through her fur. _He can sometimes be so defensive and secretive, even to his own daughter who can read his thoughts._ Surely, whatever troubled him so much would bode ill for the entire village. Casting out her sixth sense, Krystal tried her best to scan for this incoming threat her father seemed so concerned about. Through the sea of resting minds, deep in sleep, she could sense the thoughts of Sera's father. Perhaps he would know what was going on?

Nearly losing focus as she and her father rounded a corner and left the library behind them, Krystal probed into the mind of the captain of the guard, only to find that he was just as clueless as she was. _She hasn't even told_ him _yet! He's rushing to wake and gather the guards when he has no idea what is even going on!_

"I'm sorry for keeping you all in the dark about this," the king spoke up as he stopped at the winding staircase leading down to the second floor of the palace. "The last thing I want to do is spread panic through our ranks… I promise to reveal everything at our meeting in the war room." Without another word, he descended the stairs and headed for the second floor.

"Just saying that makes me want to panic," Krystal retorted, following behind him without question. The war room was a special conference room located on the second floor of the palace, reserved for private tactical meetings between the king and the upper ranks of the royal guard. The destination was close, quickly approaching as Krystal and her father raced down the corridor at the bottom of the stairs. Soon, she would finally discover what this urgent meeting was about.

A wooden doorway soon began to appear from out of the darkness, already open as members of the royal guard raced inside. Sera's father was at the head of them, halting at the entrance and allowing his warriors to proceed. As Krystal and her father approached, the crimson fox bowed his head respectfully and signaled for them to enter as well. Glancing at his face, Krystal could sense the worry and fear concealed behind his stern expression. This only increased her own apprehension as she followed behind her father.

Krystal had never set foot in the war room before, taking several moments to absorb what was around her. The space was not very large, with only a rectangular marble table at its center and enough room for soldiers to surround its perimeter on all sides. A collection of maps and other documents spread out across the table, surely used when coordinating battle strategies and other military operations among the village. Flaming torches lined the surrounding walls, bringing a considerable amount of light to the small room in contrast to the darkness outside. Krystal took her father's lead as he proceeded to the head of the table, taking her place to stand beside him. She cast her gaze across the faces of the guards surrounding the table, many showing a mixture of confusion and alarm. None of them knew what they were doing there, why they were summoned so late in the night.

"Thank you all for gathering here at this hour," Sera's father prefaced with the shutting of the door behind him. Taking a place at the opposite end of the table, he leaned forward and glanced at the guards flanking him on either side. "My King, please address your warriors."

Krystal's father unfastened the collar of his cloak and tossed it aside, closing his eyes and taking a breath before speaking. All eyes fixed on him, Krystal could sense the intense anticipation emitting from around the room. Holding their breaths, not a single member of the council was ready for what the king had to say. His words fell on unexpectant ears as he finally spoke, bringing all their worst fears to life.

"Our village is on the verge of attack. The armies of Venom surround us on all sides and are prepared to strike with full force."

Eyes stretched wide and jaws dropped around the room. Every soldier was lost for words, including the captain of the guard and Krystal herself. Though she anticipated what her father would say, she still found herself unable to cope with what was happening around her.

"War is upon us," the king echoed, unnervingly. "The enemy will launch a full-scale assault on the village by dawn."


End file.
